In response to media reports that some farmers and merchants in Gansu Province fumigated Chinese angelica and other medicinal materials with sulphur, the State Food and Drug Administration officially issued the “Notice on Further Completing the Quality Supervision of Chinese Medicinal Materials” to require Chinese medicine preparations and Chinese herbal medicines production enterprises to formulate sulphur dioxide. The residue limit indicator serves as an internal control standard for enterprise material inspection. Where an enterprise fails to formulate the internal control standards for the detection of sulfur dioxide residue according to the requirements, and does not test the purchased Chinese medicinal materials or Chinese herbal medicines in accordance with the internal control standards, the medicinal materials or the Chinese herbal medicines may not be used for production and feeding.

The notification also specifically pointed out that the State Food and Drug Administration has already established limits for sulfur dioxide residue in Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese herbal medicines.

Previously, due to the lack of internal control standards and national standards, the illegal use of Chinese herbal medicines was frequent, but the grass-roots regulatory authorities generally encountered difficulties in enforcement.

National standards come late

Professor Zhou Chaofan, a researcher at the Institute of Fundamental Theory of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said in an interview with a Southern Metropolis reporter that the current sulphur fumigation process has become odorous, and the direct cause of this “illegality” proliferation is driven by economic interests, and more importantly, The standard is missing.

In fact, China has long stipulated that it is forbidden to use sulphur to fumigate Chinese herbal medicines. As sulphur fumigation or soaking of Chinese herbal medicines will lead to residual sulfur dioxide and other toxic and hazardous substances, the current "drug management law" stipulates in Article 49 that medicinal herbs that are fumigated with sulphur should be treated as inferior drugs. In addition, the 2000 edition of the “National Pharmacopoeia” has long stipulated that all Chinese herbal medicines other than yam cannot be fumigated or soaked with sulfur. The 2005 edition of the National Pharmacopoeia further removed the use of sulphur fumigation in yam processing.

The latest version of the “National Pharmacopoeia” was implemented on October 1, 2010. This edition of the Pharmacopoeia specifically added a method for the detection of sulfur dioxide. However, it is regrettable that China has not introduced sulfur dioxide residue limits of Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese Herbal Medicine.

In view of the lack of standards, in 2004, after extensive media reports on the over-exploitation of Chinese herbal medicines, the State Food and Drug Administration had issued a "Resolution on the use of sulphur fumigation for Chinese herbal medicines" for this purpose. The approval requirements were: "For the circulation in the market Some Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese medicine decoction pieces in the field, through the use of sulphur fumigation or soaking to bleach the appearance, should be investigated and dealt with in violation of the provisions of Articles 49 and 75 of the Drug Administration Law."

However, it can be seen from this time that Gansu and other places have re-emerged. The effect of the above-mentioned approval has obviously not achieved the desired results.

Domestic sales standards need to keep up with export standards

According to Zhou Chaofan, sulfur fumigation as a traditional process was used in only a few varieties in the past, and its purpose was mainly to prevent insects and moth. However, this process has been abused.

“Now everything is smoked with sulfur, and the purpose has been distorted. Now the purpose is mainly to increase whiteness and gain weight. After over-spraying, the sale of medicinal herbs and decoction pieces will be very good, but the pH value will change, and the nature of the drug is bound to Corresponding changes will occur, and eventually the efficacy will decline." Zhou Chaofan pointed out.

The reporter inquired about the current 2010 version of the “National Pharmacopoeia” and discovered that sulfur, as a kind of Chinese herbal medicine, itself belongs to toxic medicinal materials. The new edition of the Pharmacopoeia describes it as "sour, warm and toxic" and believes that pregnant women should be used with caution.

In view of medical research, it has been proved that prolonged exposure to sulfur can cause variation in mucosal cells, which can cause serious damage to the respiratory mucosa and digestive tract mucosa of the human body, as well as direct effects on liver and kidney function. South Korea, which also uses Chinese herbal medicines extensively, issued an amendment proposal to "Specifications and Test Methods for Heavy Metals in Herbs" and an amendment proposal to "Standards and Test Methods for Sulphur Dioxide Residues in Herbal Medicine" in September 2007. The maximum amount of sulfur dioxide in the herbs is set at 30 mg per kilogram.

According to the reporter, the increase in export standards has increased the company's cost by nearly 20%. However, in 2010, the export of Chinese herbal medicine exporters to Korea and Japan did not experience a significant drop in the share of sulfur-free medicinal herbs. Correspondingly, in China, due to the lack of standards, sulfur-containing medicinal materials are popular.

Some experts pointed out that domestic sales standards have not kept pace with export standards. An important reason is that China lacks mandatory industry standards. In fact, as long as the investment is increased, the current low-temperature drying technology and standardized storage conditions can completely ensure that the Chinese herbal medicines do not contain sulfur.