Chemical Compositions of Metals in Bhasmas and Tibetan Zuotai Are a Major Determinant of Their Therapeutic Effects and Toxicity

Table 2

Comparison of frequently used -HgS and α-HgS in traditional medicines.

	-HgS	-HgS
English name	Cinnabar	Metacinnabar
Element valence state	,	Hg^2+, S^2-
Pressing procedure	grinding and washing	Repeated incinaration
Product color	Red	Black
Solubility	Insoluble sulfide	Insoluble sulfide
Bioaccessibility	Poor	Poor
Metabolites	mercuric polysulfide	mercuric polysulfide
TCM name	Zhusha	Zuotai (gTsothal)
In Tibetan and Chinese; medicine	An-Gong-Niu-Huang	Rannasangpei (70W)
In Ayurvedic medicine	Mahayograj Guggulu	Arogyavardhini Bati