Overview
This single-author F1000Research article measured ten elements by ICP-OES in 30 boneless whole chicken samples bought from shops in Amman, Jordan, in 2021, and estimated intakes and cancer risks. Results are on a dry-weight basis. Arsenic averaged about three times the cited 0.1 mg/kg guideline, while lead and cadmium were below cited limits and mercury was not detected.
Key numbers
- Arsenic mean 0.29 mg/kg dry weight (SD 0.06; range 0.142 to 0.419) (Table 3).
- Lead mean 0.063 mg/kg (SD 0.035; max 0.169); cadmium mean 0.013 mg/kg (max 0.024) (Table 3).
- Mercury < 0.0005 mg/kg in all samples (Table 3, text).
Methods (brief)
Samples were oven-dried at 105 °C, microwave-digested in nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide, and analyzed by ICP-OES in triplicate. An animal-origin reference material recovered 89.6 to 117%. Means, SDs, minima, quartiles and maxima are given in Table 3.
Evidence Fitness
Thirty samples with a full distribution, but on a dry-weight basis and with internal inconsistencies: the text gives a lead maximum of 1.69 mg/kg against 0.169 in the tables, Table 4 prints a cadmium range that conflicts with Table 3, and the mercury LOD (0.001) is above the reported less-than value (0.0005). The Introduction calls the samples “Shawarma” while Methods describe boneless whole chicken, so the preparation state is unclear. This is raw or plain chicken meat, a proxy for chicken-nuggets: no breading, forming or frying was measured.