Overview
Ihedioha and colleagues measured lead, cadmium, chromium, nickel, manganese, copper and zinc by flame AAS in 60 packets of noodles, spaghetti and macaroni bought in three Nigerian cities in 2014, half locally made and half imported. Table 2 gives the range and mean ± SD per pasta type and source in µg/g. They also estimated daily intakes and hazard quotients, all below 1.
Key numbers
- Lead, mean by group: local noodles “0.390±0.062”, local spaghetti “0.480±0.148”, imported macaroni “0.608±0.233” µg/g (Table 2, pp. 98-99).
- Cadmium: imported macaroni “0.263±0.401” µg/g, range n.d to 1.059; other groups 0.002 to 0.008 µg/g (Table 2).
- Chromium: local spaghetti “0.106±0.051” and local macaroni “0.104±0.078” µg/g (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Two grams of ground pasta were digested in nitric and perchloric acid (1:1), made up to 50 mL and read by flame AAS. Spike recoveries were 91 to 108%, with reagent blanks; detection limits are given per mL of solution. No reference material was used.
Evidence Fitness
A moderate market sample with recoveries reported, though flame AAS limits are close to the cadmium values for most groups. The paper does not say whether the pasta is whole wheat or refined. For whole-wheat-pasta this is a proxy: it measures pasta in general, so that page is not linked. Peer review is unverified.