Abstract
It has been extensively demonstrated that plants accumulate organic substances emanating
from various sources, including soil and water. This fact suggests the potentiality of contamination
of certain vital bioresources, such as medicinal plants, by persistent contaminants, such as
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), and perfluorobutane sulfonate
(PFBS). Hence, in this study, the propensity of Tagetes erecta L. (a commonly used medicinal plant) to
accumulate PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS was determined using liquid chromatography/tandem mass
spectrometry (LC–MS/MS-8030). From the results, PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS were detected in all
the plant samples and concentration levels were found to be 94.83 ng/g, 5.03 ng/g, and 1.44 ng/g,
respectively, with bioconcentration factor (BCF) ranges of 1.30 to 2.57, 13.67 to 72.33, and 0.16 to 0.31,
respectively. Little evidence exists on the bioaccumulative susceptibility of medicinal plants to these
persistent organic pollutants (POPs). These results suggest that these medicinal plants (in particular,
Tagetes erecta L., used for the management of diabetes) are also potential conduits of PFOA, PFOS,
and PFBS into humans.