Determination of Composition and Purity of Boericke and Tafel Physician Administered Homeopathic Remedies

Abstract

In this research, the composition, purity, and effectiveness of 19th century Boericke and Tafel homeopathic remedies advertised as pure arsenic, phosphorous, and zinc were analyzed utilizing Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). ICP-MS samples were prepared by dissolving the Boericke and Tafel pills in 2% nitric acid (HNO3) and internal standard. LC-MS/MS and HPLC samples were prepared from pills in hydrochloric acid (HCl). Despite being advertised as pure, the results suggest that all the Boericke and Tafel elemental pills contained a minute amount of phosphorous and zinc, but not a statistically significant amount of arsenic. The main component of the Boericke and Tafel elemental pills was sucrose, which made up about 70 % (g/g) of each pill. There was also a detectable amount of lead contamination in all the pills analyzed.