Overview
This single-author preprint measured cadmium and lead in white sugar from five yearly production batches (2019 to 2023) of the Omo Kuraz cane sugar factory in Ethiopia, using single-drop microextraction followed by graphite furnace AAS. Both metals rose steadily from the 2019 to the 2023 batch. The paper also reports proximate composition.
Key numbers
- Cadmium: 0.217 ± 0.025 mg/kg (2019 batch) to 0.617 ± 0.016 mg/kg (2023 batch); average 0.429 ± 0.031 mg/kg (Table 2).
- Lead: 0.054 ± 0.004 mg/kg (2019) to 0.508 ± 0.013 mg/kg (2023); average 0.296 ± 0.013 mg/kg (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Lead and cadmium were extracted as iodide and Rhodamine B ion pairs into a 3 µL solvent drop and injected into a graphite furnace AAS. LODs were 0.0019-0.0062 mg/L and LOQs 0.0065-0.021 mg/L in solution; spike recoveries were 81.2-112.5 percent. No certified reference material is reported. Each batch value is a mean of three, replicate type not stated.
Evidence Fitness
A preprint that has not been peer reviewed, from one factory with one result per production year. The proximate results (ash 3 to 4.7 percent, protein about 1 to 1.6 percent) are not plausible for refined white sugar, which raises doubts about sample identity or method. The text also calls the batches “sampling sites.” White sugar is an ingredient proxy for sugar-cookies, which is not linked; no cookies were tested.