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Updated: May 8, 2026

Minimal Erythema Dose (MED) Testing
Published on: May 28, 2013
Phototoxicity of herbal plants and herbal products
Peter P Fu1, Qingsu Xia, Yuewei Zhao
1a National Center for Toxicological Research , Jefferson , Arkansas , USA.
Abstract:
Plants are used by humans in daily life in many different ways, including as food, herbal medicines, and cosmetics. Unfortunately, many natural plants and their chemical constituents are photocytotoxic and photogenotoxic, and these phototoxic phytochemicals are widely present in many different plant families. To date, information concerning the phototoxicity and photogenotoxicity of many plants and their chemical constituents is limited. In this review, we discuss phototoxic plants and their major phototoxic constituents; routes of human exposure; phototoxicity of these plants and their constituents; general mechanisms of phototoxicity of plants and phototoxic components; and several representative phototoxic plants and their photoactive chemical constituents.
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