Page 185 - 00. Complete Version - Progress Report IPEN 2014-2016

Nuclear Science and Technology | Progress Report 185

of pharmaceutical products
tion Analysis, Atomic Absorption Spectrome-
try, Gamma Spectrometry and X-ray Diffrac- Medicinal plants, phototherapies and dietary
tion have been used. supplements (multivitamins and proteins) are
among the most rapidly growing pharmaceu-
In the study of the clays’ medicinal use, it is ticals not only in developing countries, but
important to characterize the raw material also in industrialized countries. These prod-
and water used in its maturation process. Al- ucts are generally commercialized without
though the peloid mechanisms of action are medical prescription and they may not always
still not well understood, some studies indi- present the reliable composition on their la-
cate that these may be related to the topical bels. Consequently, it becomes of great impor-
absorption of both inorganic and organic com- tance to evaluate the risks arising from the use
ponents present in the water and clay mature of these products by means of the determina-
mixture. In this study, the Peruíbe Black Mud tion of toxic elements as well as the essential
(PBM) was used to treat cutaneous conditions ones present in excessive doses. At the current
and osteoarthritis. It was verified that the PBM stage in which the Ministry of Health and the
is mainly composed of quartz and presents National Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVI-
lower concentrations of Ca, Mg and Mn and SA) are investing greater efforts to control all
higher concentrations of SO3, that the matu- products related to human consumption, it is
ration process makes the mud enriched in Cl necessary the development and application
and Mg, that the PBM is also enriched in the of reliable methodologies to analyze pharma-
elements As, Br, Cr Sb, Se and Zn and deplet- ceutical products. These determinations are of
ed in the elements Ca, Rb and Ta in relation great interest not only to the population and
to other peloids reported in the literature and medical professionals, but also to industries
that the elements Ca, Mg, Mn and Na are the for quality control of their production
most available for skin absorption. From the
radiological point of view, it was determined The objective of this project is to evaluate
that the effective dose resulting from the topi- chemical elements in pharmaceutical prod-
cal mud applications is three times lower than ucts for identification of their health risks due
the allowed dose increment of 1 mSv per year. to the presence of toxic elements or essential
Clinical evaluation of the use of PBM for the elements in concentrations that could cause
knees osteoarthritis treatment indicated a adverse effect to human health.
perception of improvement in 100% of the pa-
tients who received this treatment. Phytotherapics and medicinal plants

Another ongoing project on the medicinal use In Brazil, our tropical forests constitute a rich
of clays is the production of artificial peloids. In source of biodiversity for the pharmaceuti-
this project, commercial clays are matured in cal industry. Therefore, this type of study has
mineral-medicinal waters of Águas de Lindóia, aroused great interest in chemical and phar-
Poços de Caldas and Peruíbe sea water. This macological research for scientific verification
study intends to evaluate the influence of wa- of the therapeutic properties from national
ter used in the maturation process on the ob- flora specie. Existing research is still incipient
tained peloid. and there is no effective control of the official
bodies for its commercialization in fairs, pub-
Investigation on elemental composition lic markets or natural product stores.