Traditional Chinese medicine has become an important pillar of "Healthy China" and the national medical system in recent years. Due to the wide range of raw materials in traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMM), the issue of metals has attracted more and more attention. In this paper, a comprehensive review of public reports on metals in TCMM in recent decades was conducted. From a total of 1969 reported articles, a total of 296 research reports on metals in TCMM were screened. The 296 reports involved 255 species in 85 families, with a total of 274 medicinal materials. These TCMM were divided into taproot-type, leaf-type, flower and fruit-type, herba-type, stem-type and bark-type medicinal materials according to the medicinal parts. The content of five metals lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) in these TCMM was noted, and the distribution rules for metals were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) For the distribution of metals in different medicinal parts, Pb was mainly distributed in leaves; Cd was mainly distributed in flowers and fruits, stems and leaves; Hg was mainly distributed in barks; As was mainly distributed in stems; Cr was mainly distributed in stems, flowers and fruits. (2) The areas with the highest risk of metal residues were the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, south China, and southwest China. (3) Among all types of TCMM, herba-type medicinal materials had the highest risk of metal content. (4) Combined with the pharmacopoeia metal limit standards implemented in 2019, the exceeding rate of Pb in TCMM was the highest, with a maximum value of 37.67%; among the six major types of TCMM, the medicinal materials with the highest exceeding rate were herba-type medicinal materials, among which Hg had the highest exceeding rate of 23.08%; in terms of medicinal parts, the highest exceeding rate of metals was in leaf-type medicinal materials, among which Pb had the highest exceeding rate of 37.67%. On the whole, the situation in regard to metal residues in TCMM was acceptable, but it cannot be ignored. It needed to be paid attention to in the industrialization and management of TCMM.

The Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau in the world and is sensitive to climate change. The dynamics of soil enzyme activities and microbial communities are good indicators of alpine biochemical processes during warming. We collected topsoil (0–10 cm) and subsoil (10–20 cm) samples at altitudes of 3200–4000 m; determined the activities of β-1,4-glucosidase (BG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), β-1,4-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG) and acid phosphomonoesterase (PME); and performed Illumina 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing. We found that the soil carbon (total organic carbon and dissolved organic carbon) and nitrogen (total nitrogen and dissolved organic nitrogen) fluctuated with altitude in both the topsoil and subsoil, whereas the dissolved phosphorus continuously decreased with the increasing altitude. BG and CBH decreased from 3200 to 3600 m and increased from 3800 to 4000 m, with the lowest levels occurring at 3600 m (topsoil) and 3800 m (subsoil). NAG and PME showed similar fluctuations with altitude, with the highest levels occurring at 3400 m and 4000 m in both the topsoil and subsoil. Generally, the altitudes from 3600 to 3800 m were an ecological transition belt where most of the nutrients and enzyme activities reached their lowest levels. All of the alpine soils shared similar dominant phyla, including Proteobacteria (32.7%), Acidobacteria (30.2%), Actinobacteria (7.7%), Bacteroidetes (4.4%), Planctomycetes (2.9%), Firmicutes (2.3%), Gemmatimonadetes (2.0%), Chloroflexi, (1.2%) and Nitrospirae (1.2%); Gemmatimonadetes and Verrucomicrobia were significantly affected by soil depth and Planctomycetes, Firmicutes, Gemmatimonadetes, Nitrospirae, Latescibacteria and Armatimonadetes were significantly affected by altitude. In addition, nutrient availability, enzyme activity and microbial diversity were higher in the topsoil than in the subsoil, and they had more significant correlations in the subsoil than in the topsoil. Our results provide useful insights into the close linkages between soil nutrient cycling and microbial activities on the eastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, and are of great significance for further assessing the long-term impact of environmental changes in the alpine ecosystems.

The concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and its light-absorbing fraction (chromophoric dissolved organic matter; CDOM) in surface waters, particularly those draining organic-rich peatlands, have dramatically increased over the past decade due to climate change and human disturbance. To explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of DOC and CDOM in surface waters of the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we collected water samples from two rivers in the Zoige alpine wetland and from two rivers in its adjacent alpine-gorge region, during wet and dry seasons. DOC concentration ranged from 4.82 mg·L⁻¹ to 47.83 mg·L⁻¹, with a mean value of 15.04 mg·L⁻¹, 2.84 times higher than the global average. The Zoige rivers had higher DOC concentration and highly terrigenous CDOM. Significantly higher DOC concentration was observed for the Zoige rivers in the wet season compared to the dry season. In contrast, the alpine-gorge rivers had higher DOC levels in the dry season. No significant correlations were observed between DOC and CDOM at all rivers due to the influence of autochthonous sources on the alpine-gorge rivers and intensive photochemical degradation of terrigenous DOM in the Zoige rivers. Significant relationships between CDOM and specific ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA₂₅₄) and between CDOM/DOC and SUVA₂₅₄ were observed, indicating that the aromaticity of DOM in the rivers was mainly determined by CDOM. Moreover, the DOC/CDOM properties of the Hei River indicate critical human-induced water quality degradation. High DOC level and high browning degree were found in rivers in the Zoige alpine wetland, indicating that large amounts of terrigenous DOC were released to the aquatic systems of the region.