Strict standards can ensure purity of TCM herbs

AFTER THE RELEASE of the first white paper on traditional Chinese medicine, the government must now focus on protecting the quality of the herbal sources used in traditional Chinese medicine treatments. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Wednesday:

Soil contamination, water pollution and the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticide all threaten the quality and purity of the plants used in TCM, most of which are now commercially grown instead of being collected from the wild. The deteriorating quality of the plants used for treatments means it is difficult even for the most experienced TCM practitioners to prescribe the correct quantities required for a treatment to be effective.

TCM treatments are based on the accumulated experience passed from one generation to another according to the medicinal effects of the wild plants used in the past. Today, the commercial farming of these plants means their potency may not be the same as those found in the wild.