Bahrouna et al. 2025 - heavy metals in Zawia market spices

Bahrouna and colleagues measured 11 metals in 13 spice and seasoning samples purchased from local markets in Zawia City, Libya. The paper provides Libya-market occurrence evidence for broad mixed-spice products, with results reported as average concentrations in ppm and compared with EU, FDA, and Codex reference limits.

Key numbers

• The sample set included 13 commonly used mixed spice or seasoning products purchased in Zawia City during September 2023.
• Table 2 reports average +/- SD concentrations of Fe 0.53 +/- 0.44 ppm, Ni 0.65 +/- 0.04 ppm, Pb 0.12 +/- 0.05 ppm, Cd 0.20 +/- 0.09 ppm, Hg 0.09 +/- 0.03 ppm, As 0.09 +/- 0.03 ppm, Co 0.50 +/- 0.00 ppm, Cu 0.26 +/- 0.15 ppm, Zn 0.41 +/- 0.30 ppm, Mn 2.43 +/- 1.82 ppm, and Cr 0.56 +/- 0.51 ppm.
• The abstract reports the same toxic-element summary with mercury 0.09 +/- 0.03 ppm, arsenic 0.086 +/- 0.03 ppm, and lead 0.12 +/- 0.05 ppm.
• Table 1 lists comparison limits for spices: Pb 0.5-3.0 ppm EU, 2.0 ppm FDA action level, and 5.0 ppm Codex; Cd 0.1-0.5 ppm EU, 0.1 ppm FDA, and 0.3 ppm Codex; As 0.5-1.0 ppm EU and 1.0 ppm FDA/Codex; Hg 0.03-0.1 ppm EU and 0.1 ppm FDA/Codex.
• The authors state that all measured heavy-metal concentrations were below international safety limits, while noting Cd at 0.20 ppm was at the upper boundary of some comparison thresholds.

Methods (brief)

The authors collected dry spice samples from local markets and spice shops, ground them, and wet-digested 4 g portions in 40 ml of an oxi-acidic mixture of 70 percent nitric acid and 30 percent hydrogen peroxide (4:1) at 130 degrees Celsius for 3 hours. Digests were filtered through Whatman No. 42 paper and diluted to 25 ml, and metals were measured using an XSupreme 8000 X-ray fluorescence instrument (Oxford Instruments). Results are reported as total elemental concentrations in ppm; arsenic, mercury, and chromium are not speciated.

Implications

Certification: This source contributes broad Libya-market occurrence evidence for mixed spices, especially total arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel, and chromium. It should not be used as inorganic arsenic, methylmercury, or Cr(VI) evidence.

Courses: The paper is useful for teaching jurisdiction-specific spice monitoring and the difference between a mean concentration below a limit and a full product-row distribution.

App: Route as broad mixed-spice evidence for Libya, with no brand-level extraction.

Wiki pages this source may touch

• spices
• spices
• lead
• cadmium
• arsenic
• mercury
• manganese
• nickel
• copper
• zinc
• iron
• cobalt
• chromium

Verification notes

• The PDF names several commercial sample labels in the methods section; this source page keeps the finding at category level under the brand firewall.
• The article body gives arsenic as 0.09 +/- 0.03 ppm in Table 2, while the abstract and conclusion give 0.086 +/- 0.03 ppm. This page records both and treats Table 2 as the table value for routing.
• Table 2 reports Cr SD as 0.51 ppm, while section 3.11 and the section 4 conclusion give 0.56 +/- 0.50 ppm. This page treats the Table 2 value as authoritative for routing and notes the internal inconsistency in the source.
• Copper is reported as 0.26 +/- 0.15 ppm in Table 2 and 0.262 +/- 0.147 ppm in section 3.8 and section 4 conclusion. The values are consistent at table precision; this page uses the Table 2 rounding.
• The DOI and publication metadata are taken from the first page of the PDF.

Page history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page. 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.