To study the distribution of 25 elements, i.e. Be, Cd, Ce, Cr, Cu, Dy, Er,Eu, Gd, Ge, Ho, La, Lu, Mo, Nd, Pb, Pr, Sm, Sr, Tb, Tl, Tm, Y, Yb and Zn in Phytolacca, atraditional Chinese medicinal herb, collected from nine areas of P. R. China. Methods Twenty-fiveelements in Phytolacca including essential elements, toxic elements and rare earth elements intraditional Chinese medicinal herbs from different areas were analyzed by ICP-MS. Results The 25elements in Phytolacca were determined by ICP-MS under optimized conditions. The detection limitswere 0.003 -0.71 ng·mL^(-1). The recoveries were 88% - 118% . The relative standard deviations ofthe measurements were 1.7% - 13.3%. Conclusion The determined concentrations of elements inPhytolacca acinosa Roxb vary from one area to another; however, the distribution tendency ofelements in all the samples is similar. The distribution tendency of rare earth elements inPhytolacca acinosa Roxb is consistent with that in nature.
