Heavy metals in Coriander

Coriander overview

Coriander in the HMI library has 297 reported results for lead, cadmium, total arsenic, inorganic arsenic, dimethylarsinic acid, total mercury, nickel, chromium, aluminium, tin, antimony, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, V, Se, Ba, Be, Sr and Tl from 27 sources.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2Angelon-Gaetz KA, Klaus C, Chaudhry EA, Bean DK · 2018Lead in Spices, Herbal Remedies, and Ceremonial Powders Sampled from Home Investigations for Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels — North Carolina, 2011–2018MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →3Ericson B, Gabelaia L, Keith J, Kashibadze T, Beraia N, Sturua L, Kazzi Z · 2020Elevated Levels of Lead (Pb) Identified in Georgian SpicesAnnals of Global HealthRead source →4Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →5Pan X-D, Wu P-G, Jiang X-G · 2016Levels and potential health risk of heavy metals in marketed vegetables in Zhejiang, ChinaScientific ReportsRead source →6Adhikari S, Struwig M · 2024Concentrations and health risks of selected elements in leafy vegetables: a comparison between roadside open-air markets and large stores in Johannesburg, South AfricaNot reportedRead source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in coriander, as sold from 359 results in 5 reporting regions, with subgroup medians from 10 to 740 µg/kg.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →} For cadmium, GEMS/Food gave subgroup medians from 32 to 273 µg/kg from 80 results.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

Across 4 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis ranged from 114 µg/kg (X-D et al. 2016) to 8,430 µg/kg (Ericson et al. 2020).^{3Ericson B, Gabelaia L, Keith J, Kashibadze T, Beraia N, Sturua L, Kazzi Z · 2020Elevated Levels of Lead (Pb) Identified in Georgian SpicesAnnals of Global HealthRead source →5Pan X-D, Wu P-G, Jiang X-G · 2016Levels and potential health risk of heavy metals in marketed vegetables in Zhejiang, ChinaScientific ReportsRead source →} For cadmium, 4 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 34 µg/kg (Pan et al. 2023) to 1,650 µg/kg (Islam et al. 2023).^{7Pan XD, Han JL · 2023Distribution of Cadmium in Fresh Vegetables Marketed in Southeast China and Its Dietary Exposure AssessmentFoods 2023, 12, 1204Read source →8Islam MS, Chowdhury AI, Shill LC, Reza S, Alam MR · 2023Heavy Metals Induced Health Risk Assessment Through Consumption of Selected Commercially Available Spices in Noakhali District of BangladeshmedRxiv (preprint)Read source →}

For a buyer the practical points are the form bought, the basis a result is reported on, where the coriander came from and the laboratory’s reporting limit. Testing finds contamination but does not remove it.

What counts as coriander

This page covers coriander in 3 forms kept separate in every comparison: coriander, as sold (273 results), coriander, powder or ground (22 results) and coriander, dried (2 results).^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2Angelon-Gaetz KA, Klaus C, Chaudhry EA, Bean DK · 2018Lead in Spices, Herbal Remedies, and Ceremonial Powders Sampled from Home Investigations for Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels — North Carolina, 2011–2018MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →3Ericson B, Gabelaia L, Keith J, Kashibadze T, Beraia N, Sturua L, Kazzi Z · 2020Elevated Levels of Lead (Pb) Identified in Georgian SpicesAnnals of Global HealthRead source →4Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →5Pan X-D, Wu P-G, Jiang X-G · 2016Levels and potential health risk of heavy metals in marketed vegetables in Zhejiang, ChinaScientific ReportsRead source →6Adhikari S, Struwig M · 2024Concentrations and health risks of selected elements in leafy vegetables: a comparison between roadside open-air markets and large stores in Johannesburg, South AfricaNot reportedRead source →}

Results stay on the basis each source reports: as sold or fresh weight, dry weight, or unstated. Dry-weight, as-sold and unstated results are never pooled, and no moisture conversion is applied.

Heavy metal contamination profile of coriander

The table holds every extracted coriander result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 297 rows in all, grouped by metal and form; percentiles, ranges and maxima for the same samples as a mean or median are shown on that row.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2Angelon-Gaetz KA, Klaus C, Chaudhry EA, Bean DK · 2018Lead in Spices, Herbal Remedies, and Ceremonial Powders Sampled from Home Investigations for Children with Elevated Blood Lead Levels — North Carolina, 2011–2018MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportRead source →3Ericson B, Gabelaia L, Keith J, Kashibadze T, Beraia N, Sturua L, Kazzi Z · 2020Elevated Levels of Lead (Pb) Identified in Georgian SpicesAnnals of Global HealthRead source →4Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →5Pan X-D, Wu P-G, Jiang X-G · 2016Levels and potential health risk of heavy metals in marketed vegetables in Zhejiang, ChinaScientific ReportsRead source →6Adhikari S, Struwig M · 2024Concentrations and health risks of selected elements in leafy vegetables: a comparison between roadside open-air markets and large stores in Johannesburg, South AfricaNot reportedRead source →} Monitoring medians are HMI calculations from individual submissions; non-detects remain intervals between zero and the reporting limit and are never read as zero.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

126 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 22 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 6 values from 4 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{9Sultana R, Tanvir RU, Hussain KA, Chamon AS, Mondol MN · 2022Heavy Metals in Commonly Consumed Root and Leafy Vegetables in Dhaka City, Bangladesh, and Assessment of Associated Public Health RisksEnvironmental Systems ResearchRead source →10Winiarska-Mieczan A, Jachimowicz K, Kwiecień M, Krusiński R, Kislova S, Sowińska L, Zasadna Z, Yanovych D · 2023The Content of Cd and Pb in Herbs and Single-Component Spices Used in Polish CuisineBiological Trace Element ResearchRead source →11Sharma A, Katnoria J K, Nagpal A K · 2016Heavy metals in vegetables: screening health risks involved in cultivation along wastewater drain and irrigating with wastewaterSpringerPlusRead source →12Cicero N, Gervasi T, Durazzo A, Lucarini M, Macrì A, Nava V, Giarratana F, Tardugno R, Vadalà R, Santini A · 2022Mineral and Microbiological Analysis of Spices and Aromatic HerbsFoodsRead source →}