Evaluation of Concentrations and Health Risk Assessment of Cadmium, Lead, Chromium and Arsenic in

Overview

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Key numbers

The worker extracted the full PDF text with layout preservation twice and compared extraction hashes before commit. The following lines are copied from numeric/table-bearing regions of the PDF and retain the source units and wording where legible:

that Cd was present in all samples (0.005–0.030 mg/kg), Pb ranged from 0.02–0.15 mg/kg, and Cr from 0.03–0.18
amounts (0.02–0.04 mg/kg) in shawarma bread, sardines, and hot dogs. The calculated Hazard Index (HI) values
(Fruits, Vegetables and Seafood). This will result in a 0.0300 mg/kg. (Masok et al., 2017). If HQ is equal 1,
total of 12 samples for consumer ready-to-eat (RTE) it means there are potential health risks (Meseret et
content in mg/kg (AOAC, 2006). such as the World Health Organization (WHO), Food
Estimated Daily Intake (EDI): The volume of food Organization (FAO): Cd (0.05 mg/kg), Pb (0.30
consumed and the contaminant concentration in the mg/kg), Cr (0.30 mg/kg), and as (0.10 mg/kg).
C = is the fresh weight concentration of the element in the food to 0.030 mg/kg (Sardines). All samples were well
Hazard Quotient (HQ): By calculating the HQ (0.022 mg/kg) products likely influenced by
from 0.02 mg/kg (Yoghurt, Oat) to 0.15 mg/kg Fig. 1: Heavy Metals Concentrations in Ready-to-Eat Food
allowable limit of 0.30 mg/kg, the higher
0.04 mg/kg in products like shawarma bread, Table 1: Heavy Metals Concentration in RTE Foods Compared to
WHO/FAO limit of 0.10 mg/kg. While not Metals value
cadmium was 0.01317 mg/kg, which is significantly mean concentration was 0.065 mg/kg, demonstrating
limit. The mean concentration of arsenic was 0.0267
test value of 0.10 mg/kg (t (8) =−25.403, p<0.001). using the Hazard Index (HI), a non-carcinogenic risk
concentration of chromium was 0.085 mg/kg, which assessed RTE food samples showed HI values below
from the test value of 0.30 mg/kg (t (11) =−1.067, However, this does not negate potential cumulative
p=0.309). While the mean concentration is within the or long-term effects, especially when multiple
(Hands et al., 2024) revealed that 43% of chocolate and long-term health effects. The findings highlight
samples exceeded lead limits and 35% surpassed the urgent need for continuous monitoring, strict
45% of food crops sampled in Owerri, Nigeria, Ethical Approval: This study did not involve human
in selected fruits and vegetables grown in Nigeria, Rev. Colomb. Cienc. Quim. Farm. 53(1):
MA (2023). Risk assessment of toxic metals in metals in fruits and vegetables: Health risk

Methods (brief)

that Cd was present in all samples (0.005–0.030 mg/kg), Pb ranged from 0.02–0.15 mg/kg, and Cr from 0.03–0.18
mg/kg, while as was not detected (ND) in several samples such as yoghurt, milk, and oat, but found in trace
very detrimental to one’s health. Parents and children zinc (Zn²⁺) were found in Romanian fruit samples
are drawn to these meals all the time, which keeps and lettuce samples from the United States,
seeing an increase in consumer packed food safety samples from a supermarket in the Ilorin environs in
total of 12 samples for consumer ready-to-eat (RTE) it means there are potential health risks (Meseret et
food. The samples were then fully wrapped in a al. 2020).
these samples were handled with care before being (𝐸𝐷𝐼)
sent to the lab for analysis. To avoid sample (𝑅𝑓𝐷)
deterioration, samples were stored in a lab freezer
Digestion and Determination of Heavy Metals: 3g of
each sample was accurately weighed after Hazard Index (HI): The HI is a measure of the
samples were weighed into the digestion tubes. 10 ml mixture of heavy metals. According to equation 2
sample was digested and its volume was reduced to 2 (Luo et al., 2021).
ml. The digestion was continued until the solution
HNO3.The sample was allowed to cool and 15 ml of
The digested samples were analyzed for Cd, Pb, and consumption of these food items and their
Cr and as concentration using Atomic Absorption implications for public health. The findings are

Implications

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Update history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.

Commit	Date	Change	Description
b01ec52c	2026-08-04	major	2 sections added
d49e450f	2026-08-03	major	5 sections added; narrative text revised