Heavy metals in Spices

Spices overview

Spices in the HMI library has 1,198 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, As, Be and Sr from 38 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 →4Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →5Huff A, Lam H, Ghimirey A, Goldring J, Pimentel M, Okatch H · 2025Heavy metals in spices from Lancaster, PA: arsenic, cadmium, and lead exposure risks and the need for regulationEnvironmental Monitoring and AssessmentRead source →6Lidiková J, Čeryová N, Šnirc M, Musilová J, Harangozo Ľ, Vollmannová A, Brindza J, Grygorieva O · 2021Heavy Metals Presence in the Soil and Their Content in Selected Varieties of Chili Peppers in SlovakiaFoods 2021, 10(8), 1738Read source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in spices, as sold from 5,229 results in 5 reporting regions, with subgroup medians from 0.725 to 14,500 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 0.085 to 365 µg/kg from 2,684 results.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

Across 6 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis ranged from 40 µg/kg (Lidiková et al. 2021) to 5,270,000 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 →6Lidiková J, Čeryová N, Šnirc M, Musilová J, Harangozo Ľ, Vollmannová A, Brindza J, Grygorieva O · 2021Heavy Metals Presence in the Soil and Their Content in Selected Varieties of Chili Peppers in SlovakiaFoods 2021, 10(8), 1738Read source →} For cadmium, 4 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 5 µg/kg (Lidiková et al. 2021) to 80 µg/kg (Lidiková et al. 2021).^{6Lidiková J, Čeryová N, Šnirc M, Musilová J, Harangozo Ľ, Vollmannová A, Brindza J, Grygorieva O · 2021Heavy Metals Presence in the Soil and Their Content in Selected Varieties of Chili Peppers in SlovakiaFoods 2021, 10(8), 1738Read source →} Higher results came from contaminated or exposed settings rather than ordinary supply. Spices, as sold from grown independently had total mercury higher at 8.7 µg/kg, against 6.17 µg/kg for all samples in the same study.^{7Fischer A, Brodziak-Dopierała B · 2022The Mercury Concentration in Spice PlantsProcessesRead source →}

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

What counts as spices

This page covers spices in 5 forms kept separate in every comparison: spices, as sold (1,152 results), spices, powder or ground (21 results), spices, dried (19 results), spices, flour or meal (4 results) and spices, cooked (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 →4Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →5Huff A, Lam H, Ghimirey A, Goldring J, Pimentel M, Okatch H · 2025Heavy metals in spices from Lancaster, PA: arsenic, cadmium, and lead exposure risks and the need for regulationEnvironmental Monitoring and AssessmentRead source →6Lidiková J, Čeryová N, Šnirc M, Musilová J, Harangozo Ľ, Vollmannová A, Brindza J, Grygorieva O · 2021Heavy Metals Presence in the Soil and Their Content in Selected Varieties of Chili Peppers in SlovakiaFoods 2021, 10(8), 1738Read source →} Foods made from spices that have their own pages, such as herbs and spices, are covered there.

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 spices

The table holds every extracted spices result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 1,198 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 →4Fechner C, Hackethal C, Höpfner T, Dietrich J, Bloch D, Lindtner O, Sarvan I · 2022Results of the BfR MEAL Study: In Germany, mercury is mostly contained in fish and seafood while cadmium, lead, and nickel are present in a broad spectrum of foodsFood Chemistry: XRead source →5Huff A, Lam H, Ghimirey A, Goldring J, Pimentel M, Okatch H · 2025Heavy metals in spices from Lancaster, PA: arsenic, cadmium, and lead exposure risks and the need for regulationEnvironmental Monitoring and AssessmentRead source →6Lidiková J, Čeryová N, Šnirc M, Musilová J, Harangozo Ľ, Vollmannová A, Brindza J, Grygorieva O · 2021Heavy Metals Presence in the Soil and Their Content in Selected Varieties of Chili Peppers in SlovakiaFoods 2021, 10(8), 1738Read 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 →}

479 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 117 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 7 values from 7 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{8Chime CI, Eze M, Ndukwe IE, Abah EI, Chinyere OND-R, Anene CS · 2025Assessment of toxic trace metal contamination in food spices sold in Nigerian marketsWorld Journal of Advanced Research and ReviewsRead source →9John Joseph, Toma Buba, Jalo Enoch, Ayuba Kaluri · 2025Assessment of the Level of Heavy Metals in Irrigation Water, Farm Soil, and Vegetables Grown in Gobbiya Dam, Bogoro Local Government Area Bauchi State, NigeriaJournal of Energy Technology and Environment 7(4):79–92Read source →10Darko B, Ayim I, Voegborlo RB · 2014Heavy metal content in mixed and unmixed seasonings on the Ghanaian marketAfrican Journal of Food ScienceRead source →11Zhou LQ, Liu WZ · 2024Pollution of four heavy metal elements in dried chili peppers in Guizhou Province and its health risk assessmentScientific Reports 2024, 14: 17759Read 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 →13Adams FM, Njoku K, Famotemi AC, Idowu D, Tijani AA · 2017Genotoxic studies of cooked and uncooked processed spices using Allium cepa TestInternational Journal of Advanced Research in Biological SciencesRead source →14Peter Olusakin Oladoye, David Olaoluwa Jegede · 2016Evaluation of Effects of Heavy Metal Contents of Some Common Spices Available in Odo-Ori Market, Iwo, NigeriaJournal of Environmental Analytical ChemistryRead source →}