Overview
Bethencourt-Barbuzano and colleagues measured 17 elements by ICP-OES in 47 whey protein supplements bought in Spain and Italy in 2021 and 2022 and estimated intakes at 30, 60 and 100 g per day. Potentially toxic elements covered are aluminum, nickel, strontium, barium, boron and vanadium. Lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury were not measured.
Key numbers
- Aluminum: average 0.719 mg/100 g (range 0.040 to 3.522) (Table 5, p. 7).
- Nickel: average 0.032 mg/100 g (range 0.001 to 0.140); chromium 0.021 mg/100 g (0.003 to 0.060) (Table 5, p. 7).
- Hazard index below 1 in all three consumption scenarios (Table 8, p. 12).
Methods (brief)
Five grams of each sample were dried and dry-ashed at 425 °C, the ash dissolved in 1.5% nitric acid, and elements measured on a Thermo iCAP PRO ICP-OES. Recoveries on SRM 1515, SRM 1548a and SRM 1567a were 97.8 to 102.5% (Table 3). Limits are given in mg/L of digest (Table A1).
Evidence Fitness
A good-sized, QA-supported survey, but only average, minimum and maximum across all 47 products are printed, and the main toxic metals of interest are absent. The strontium minimum is unreadable as printed. Whey protein powder is a proxy for meal-replacement-drink, which is not linked.