Overview
Akter and colleagues measured iron, zinc, manganese, cadmium, chromium and lead by AAS in 12 honeys sold or produced in Dhaka in early 2024. Cadmium exceeded the cited 0.20 mg/kg limit in most samples on a dry-weight basis, while lead was below the LOQ in all.
Key numbers
- Cadmium, dry weight, 0.169 to 1.608 mg/kg (local) and 0.230 to 0.295 mg/kg (imported) (Table 4).
- Cadmium, fresh weight, mean 0.374 mg/kg (local, 0.142 to 1.254) and 0.230 mg/kg (imported, 0.209 to 0.266) (Table 5).
- Lead below the LOQ in all 12 samples (Tables 4 and 5).
Methods (brief)
Honey oven-dried at 60 to 70 °C, HNO3:H2O2 digestion in a water bath, AAS (Analytik Jena NovAA 400P). Spike recoveries 95.6 to 104.9%; no CRM, which the authors note as a limitation.
Evidence Fitness
Small sample with internal inconsistencies: the imported mean rows in Table 4 repeat the local rows, the printed zinc means do not match the sample values, the lead LOQ is printed as both 0.076 and 0.76 mg/kg, and the chromium LOD is printed above its LOQ. Most cadmium values fall between the stated LOD and LOQ. Findings are flagged accordingly. Honey is a proxy for pancake-syrup and does not link that page.