## 3 Results and Discussion
### Discussion of the Margin of Exposure (MOE) Results  
Herbal therapy, as an alternative to classical medicinal therapies, is increasingly successful among populations in all areas of the globe. The increased consumption of herbal medicinal products (infusions, decoctions, macerations, etc.) determines the need for studies on the risks of consumption of these products, with reference to possible contamination with PAHs, pesticides or heavy metals.  
In this study, the exposure to PAHs through the consumption of herbal infusions was assessed using BaP and 4 PAHs as markers for the presence of these compounds in the infusions [1]. Calculations for the level of exposure from herbal tea consumption (EDI, ng/kg.bw/day) were performed using the average concentrations of BaP and 4 PAHs (ng/L) by daily consumption level of tea (200 mL, CNSSP), reference [17], relative to an average body weight of 70 kg [18].  
Values for the Margin of Exposure (MOE), reference [1], were calculated as being the ratio of the lower confidence limit of the reference dose (BMDL10) to the estimated daily intake (EDI). According to EFSA (Panel on Dietetic Products et al., 2016), health concerns associated with dietary exposure to PAHs may occur at MOE values close to or below  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**PAHs** & \begin{tabular}{c} _Hypericum_ \\ _perforatum_ \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} _Artemisia_ \\ _absinthium_ \\ \end{tabular} & **Tilia sp.** & \begin{tabular}{c} _Matricaria_ \\ _chamomilla_ \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} _Achillea_ \\ _mille-_ \\ _officinalis_ \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} _Taraxacum_ \\ _officinalis_ \\ \end{tabular} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} _Calendula_ &
\begin{tabular}{c} _Crataegus_ \\ _monogyna_ \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline Na & - & - & - & - & - & - & - & - \\ Ac & 18.30 & - & - & - & 32.09 & 4.71 & 29.89 & - \\ Ace & 40.05 & - & - & - & 33.39 & 8.36 & 22.06 & 25.27 \\ Flu & 38.96 & - & - & 10.18 & 8.86 & 1.07 & 37.04 & 22.26 \\ Ph & - & - & - & 25.67 & 34.99 & 7.42 & 31.33 & 26.83 \\ An & 12.28 & 0.30 & 24.56 & 34.26 & 29.66 & 4.48 & 33.40 & - \\ Fln & 19.58 & - & - & - & 8.77 & 4.93 & 26.35 & 33.11 \\ Pyr & 10.86 & - & - & - & 11.70 & 1.78 & 33.59 & 31.00 \\ BaA & 35.00 & - & - & 33.34 & 22.49 & 11.83 & - & 20.07 \\ Chr & - & - & - & 15.48 & - & - & 25.07 & - \\ BbF & 31.98 & - & 22.84 & 30.03 & 20.21 & 11.29 & 31.46 & 28.81 \\ BkF & - & - & 15.24 & 33.52 & - & 8.33 & 32.42 & - \\ BaP & 23.66 & - & 19.66 & 25.59 & 15.25 & 8.59 & 28.81 & 17.73 \\ Bghi & 38.35 & - & 14.25 & - & 37.32 & 1.71 & - & - \\ DahA & - & - & - & - & 24.70 & 8.37 & - & - \\ IP & 10.45 & - & 50.70 & - & 11.59 & 7.43 & - & 29.94 \\ \(\Sigma^{4}\)PAHs & 27.95 & - & 21.26 & 29.28 & 17.55 & 9.56 & 29.78 & 21.42 \\ LMW-PAHs & 37.50 & 0.30 & 24,56 & 25.79 & 16.38 & 6.64 & 33.33 & 11.72 \\ HMW-PAHs & 19.89 & - & 19,51 & 30.15 & 17.19 & 7.48 & 31.71 & 22.95 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 5: Transfer rates (%) of PAHs.  
10,000 [36]. Table 6 presents the EDI and MOE values of the average concentrations of BaP and 4 PAHs in the types of tea infusions.  
The exposure intake values for medicinal tea consumption (EDI) were between 0.063 and 1.246 (ng/kg.bw/day) for BaP and between 0.254 and 2.268 (ng/kg.bw/day) for 4 PAHs. At the same time, the results for the Margin of Exposure (MOE) ranged from 56,179 to 1,111,110 for BaP and from 149,911 to 1,343,873 for 4 PAHs, with the values being well above the reference value of 10,000.  
The MOE values obtained in this study are different from those reported by [PERSON] et al. (2019), [PERSON] et al. (2020) and [PERSON] et al. (2018) for herbal teas [13, 28, 37].  
Based on these results, we can conclude that PAH exposure through the consumption of medicinal teas is very low and safe for health. However, taking into account the fact that the intake of PAHs from food is also added to that from \"health products\", we consider it necessary to control medicinal plants and medicinal preparations, as well as food.