Animal and Mineral Ingredients in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Animal and mineral ingredients in Traditional Chinese Medicine: pangolin, tiger, rhino and bear bile under wildlife law, and why cinnabar and realgar (mercury and arsenic) are safety issues.
Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.
Why this page exists
Most Chinese herbal medicine uses plants, but traditional materia medica also includes animal parts and minerals. Two problems follow. Some animal ingredients come from endangered species, and some mineral ingredients are compounds of toxic metals. This page explains both in plain terms. It is information only. It does not recommend any product, and nothing here is a reason to stop a prescribed medicine.Minerals: cinnabar and realgar
Cinnabar is mercury sulfide. Realgar is an arsenic sulfide. Both appear in some traditional patent medicines. A review names An-Gong-Niu-Huang Wan and Hua-Feng-Dan as containing both. [6] See An Gong Niu Huang Wan for that formula.What researchers say:
- Preparation methods are designed to remove impurities, and the metals in these medicines are in sulfide forms that behave differently from environmental mercury or arsenic compounds. But the review concluded that total mercury or arsenic alone is not enough to judge risk, and asked for surveillance of people who use these preparations. [6]
- A toxicology review found cinnabar poorly absorbed by mouth, but noted that long-term use may cause renal dysfunction, and said that the rationale for including cinnabar in traditional medicines remains to be fully justified. [7]
Our position: because the benefit is unproven and mercury and arsenic are toxic, treat any product listing cinnabar or realgar as a safety issue and do not use it without a doctor who knows your health. Never heat these materials or handle them yourself; the toxicology review notes heated cinnabar releases mercury vapor. [7] We do not recommend any product containing them.
How to protect yourself
- Read ingredient lists in English and Chinese, and ask the seller or practitioner what a product contains. See reading a Chinese patent medicine label.
- Be wary of products that do not list ingredients, and of "wild" or rare animal claims. Selling or importing some of these items can be illegal. [2] Adulteration and substitution and undeclared drugs are covered separately.
- Pregnancy and children: avoid metal-containing and unlabeled products unless a clinician approves.
- New or worrying symptoms after taking any product need medical care; reduced kidney function is a reported risk of long-term cinnabar use. [7] In the US, Poison Help is 1-800-222-1222; see poison help by country. Report problems via reporting problems with Chinese herbs.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to buy products with tiger or rhino in them?
International commercial trade in raw rhino horn and tiger or leopard bone is prohibited by treaty and by several countries' domestic laws. [2]
Was pangolin banned from Chinese medicine in 2020?
Reports said so, but the EIA found pangolin still listed in patent medicine formulae in the pharmacopoeia. [4]
Does pangolin scale work?
A systematic review found the evidence cannot support clinical use. [3]
Are cinnabar and realgar safe?
They contain mercury and arsenic. Reviews call for surveillance and say the rationale for use needs to be justified, so treat them as a safety concern. [6][7]
Are there substitutes for bear bile?
Researchers have studied pure compounds, other animals' bile and herbs as substitutes. [5]
More details: evidence, limits and cautions
The details behind this page: cautions, limits of the evidence and where sources disagree. Open any note to read it.
Endangered animals and the law
Pangolin scales. A 2021 systematic review found 15 articles on pangolin scale, including four randomized trials. It judged the evidence of low quality and concluded currently available evidence cannot support the clinical use of the scale. [3] In 2020 media widely reported that China had dropped pangolin from its official pharmacopoeia. The Environmental Investigation Agency, a conservation group, checked the book and found that pangolin was removed from a section of key ingredients but is still listed as an ingredient in patent medicines. [4] This is one conservation organization's reading of the document, so treat it as one side's account.
Products on sale. The EIA reported at least 88 licensed Chinese patent medicines described as containing leopard, pangolin and, in a few cases, tiger and rhino, made by 72 companies. [1] In 1996 to 1997 TRAFFIC surveyed 110 shops in North America and found half offered medicines that contained or claimed to contain tiger, rhino or leopard, noting that few if any prosecutions occurred because current forensic techniques could not detect many of the derivatives. [2] That study is old, and we did not find a newer readable survey, so it shows how the problem has been described, not how things stand today.
Bear bile. Bear bile has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. A review says extensive consumption made bears endangered, that bear farming in China began in the 1980s, and that it described the farming method as extremely inhumane. The review looked at substitutes drawn from pure compounds, other animals' bile and herbs. [5]
The ethical point. We did not read a statement from a professional body this session, so we do not attribute a position on endangered-species ingredients to any group. For plant sourcing and sustainability, see sustainability, plant sourcing and commercialization.
References
- Environmental Investigation Agency. Investing in Extinction (report page) Read 2026-10-22.
- TRAFFIC North America. While Supplies Last: The Sale of Tiger and Other Endangered Species Medicines in North America (1996-1997), January 1998. www.traffic.org. Read 2026-10-22.
- Evidence for the medicinal value of Squama Manitis (pangolin scale): a systematic review. Integr Med Res 2021. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Read 2026-10-22.
- Environmental Investigation Agency. Despite the headlines, China's Government still promotes pangolin scales in traditional medicines. eia-international.org. Read 2026-10-22.
- Feng Y et al. Bear bile: dilemma of traditional medicinal use and animal protection. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed 2009. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Read 2026-10-22.
- A review of cinnabar (HgS) and/or realgar (As4S4)-containing traditional medicines. J Ethnopharmacol 2018. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Read 2026-10-22.
- Liu J et al. Mercury in traditional medicines: is cinnabar toxicologically similar to common mercurials? Exp Biol Med 2008. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Read 2026-10-22.