Overview
Alam et al. measured lead in 72 powdered spice samples collected from three local markets in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The sample set covered cumin powder, red pepper chili powder, turmeric powder, and coriander powder, split between branded and nonbranded market items. Lead was quantified by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after hot-plate digestion. The highest source-stated lead range was in nonbranded turmeric powder, below 0.27 to 37.29 mg/kg; branded turmeric also reached 13.83 mg/kg. The paper reports that about 90% of samples were within the Bangladesh Standard maximum allowable limit, but the nonbranded red pepper and turmeric estimated daily intakes exceeded the maximum tolerable daily intake comparator used by the authors.
Key numbers
Source-stated lead ranges by spice category
The abstract gives the clearest complete per-spice ranges for lead, in mg/kg on the spice-as-sold powder basis.
| Spice | Branded Pb range (mg/kg) | Nonbranded Pb range (mg/kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Cumin powder | <0.27-2.80 | <0.27-5.56 |
| Red pepper chili powder | <0.27-0.48 | <0.27-3.84 |
| Turmeric powder | <0.27-13.83 | <0.27-37.29 |
| Coriander powder | 0.28-8.19 | 0.29-0.65 |
Directional findings reported by the authors
- The average branded-spice lead (Pb) concentrations decreased in the order turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, red pepper powder.
- The corresponding nonbranded ordering placed turmeric powder highest, followed by cumin powder and red pepper powder, then coriander powder.
- The paper states that nonbranded items had slightly higher Pb than branded items except for coriander powder.
- The highest consumer-intake contribution came from turmeric powder in both branded and nonbranded categories. The lowest intake contribution was from branded cumin powder and nonbranded coriander powder.
- The estimated daily intake exceeded the authors’ maximum tolerable daily intake comparator only for nonbranded red pepper and nonbranded turmeric.
Exposure calculations reported in the source
The extracted table text reports these estimated daily intake entries for branded and nonbranded spice groups. Units are as printed by the paper’s EDI/THQ table; downstream use should return to the PDF table before treating them as occurrence values.
| Category | Spice | EDI, source table | THQ, source table | CR, source table |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branded | Cumin powder | 0.046 | 0.011 | 3.89E-07 |
| Branded | Red pepper powder | 0.052 | 0.013 | 4.40E-07 |
| Branded | Turmeric powder | 0.20 | 0.051 | 1.72E-06 |
| Branded | Coriander powder | 0.068 | 0.017 | 5.76E-07 |
| Nonbranded | Cumin powder | 0.083 | 0.021 | 7.08E-07 |
| Nonbranded | Red pepper powder | 0.25 | 0.063 | 2.12E-06 |
| Nonbranded | Turmeric powder | 0.62 | 0.15 | 5.25E-06 |
| Nonbranded | Coriander powder | 0.02 | 0.0051 | 1.73E-07 |
Methods (brief)
The authors collected the four powdered spice types from local markets in Dhaka city and separated the samples into branded and nonbranded categories. Samples were acid-digested on a hot plate and analyzed on a Varian AA240FS flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The paper states that freshly prepared standards were used for calibration, the digestion method was validated and optimized, and recovery was 90-110%. The measured analyte is total lead as Pb; no other metals were measured.
The source reports concentrations in mg/kg of spice powder. The wiki treats these values as dry/as-sold powdered spice values because the study matrices are powdered spices and no reconstitution or wet-weight conversion is described.
Implications
Certification: This source provides Bangladesh-market occurrence data for Pb in powdered spices. It is most relevant to spice/condiment routing, especially turmeric and cumin, but it should not be pooled silently with US-market spice data without a jurisdiction and market-basis decision.
Courses: Useful as a regional-market example of branded vs nonbranded spice contamination, with turmeric acting as the highest-Pb spice in both categories and nonbranded products generally higher than branded products.
App: Adds a Bangladesh retail-market signal for Pb in powdered cumin, red pepper, turmeric, and coriander. The source does not identify consumer brands and should be used as category-level evidence only.
Microbiome: Not addressed.
Related evidence
- Lead
- Spices
- Herbs And Spices
- Cumin
- Turmeric
- Spices
- Condiments (hot sauce, soy sauce, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, salsa)
Update history
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