Overview
Atawy collected 25 instant-noodle samples of four imported brands and one Iraqi brand in Kirkuk markets in 2026 and measured lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, followed by a Monte Carlo hazard-quotient assessment. The Iraqi brand had the highest lead, cadmium and nickel. All hazard quotients were below one.
Key numbers
- Lead: Iraqi brand E “1.70 ± 0.120” mg/kg, lowest imported brand C “0.94 ± 0.02” mg/kg (Results text and Figure 1 data labels).
- Cadmium: brand E “0.13 ± 0.03” mg/kg, brand C “0.064 ± 0.008” mg/kg (Figure 2).
- Chromium 0.19 to 0.41 mg/kg; nickel 0.008 to 0.021 mg/kg (Figures 3 and 4).
Methods (brief)
Samples were oven-dried at 80 °C, ground, digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide at 120 °C and read by flame AAS against four calibration standards. Stated determination limits were 0.002 mg/kg for lead, 0.001 for cadmium and 0.005 for chromium and nickel. No certified reference material or recoveries are reported. Results are on a dried basis.
Evidence Fitness
A small single-city survey with five brands. The number of samples per brand is not given. Brand means were taken from data labels printed on the charts, not from bar heights. The text also gives a lead range that conflicts with its own extremes. No DOI is printed in the PDF; the manifest DOI is used. Instant noodles are direct evidence for noodles but only a proxy for chicken-noodle-soup and ramen-soup, which are not linked.