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Evaluation of Lead, Cadmium and Mercury Content in Sports Supplements in the Market of Iran

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Overview

Sixty samples from 12 Iranian sports supplement brands were analyzed for lead, cadmium and mercury. Wide brand-to-brand variation was found for all three metals, with the highest lead and cadmium concentrations in brands S11 and S12, and the highest mercury in S8 and S9. All brand-level means are reported from the abstract and discussion; individual sample tables in the PDF were image-rendered and could not be extracted numerically.

Key numbers

Lead (12 brands, 5 samples each; approximate range from discussion):

  • Lowest mean: S1 brand, 0.003 +/- 0.0007 mg/kg (3 µg/kg)
  • Highest means: S12 at 2.31 +/- 0.01 mg/kg (2310 µg/kg), S11 at 1.95 +/- 0.003 mg/kg (1950 µg/kg)
  • S1 to S5 brands formed one Duncan homogeneous subset

Cadmium:

  • Lowest mean: S5 brand, 0.012 +/- 0.002 mg/kg (12 µg/kg)
  • Highest means: S11 at 0.704 +/- 0.003 mg/kg (704 µg/kg), S9 at 0.412 +/- 0.007 mg/kg (412 µg/kg)
  • Dolan et al. (cited in discussion) reported a concentration of 16800 µg/kg in one supplement product; this is a cited comparator, not a value from this study

Mercury:

  • Minimum: S1 brand, 0.11 +/- 0.011 mg/kg (110 µg/kg)
  • Maximum: S8 brand, 0.55 +/- 0.025 mg/kg (550 µg/kg); S9 at 0.50 +/- 0.020 mg/kg (500 µg/kg)
  • Mean across all 90 samples: 0.0095 mg/kg noted in one cited comparator; the study’s own mercury data show all 12 brands had detectable mercury

Regulatory context applied: maximum allowed levels cited as 10 mg/kg for arsenic, cadmium and lead; 1 mg/kg for mercury.

Methods (brief)

1 g of supplement digested in HNO3 67 percent and HF 40 percent; microwave assisted mineralization in five-stage batch system (280 W, 155 degrees C, 45 atm maximum). Lead and cadmium measured by atomic absorption spectrometry (Varian SO Scan). Mercury reduced with SnCl2 and measured at 253.7 nm by cold-vapour AAS. Data analyzed by ANOVA with Duncan homogeneous subsets test (SPSS 16). No LOD/LOQ stated.

Evidence Fitness

Non-DOI publication (assigned a non-DOI row in MANIFEST). Brand identity not disclosed. The supplement types within brands S1 to S12 are not individually specified, so it is unclear what fraction is whey protein versus creatine versus other. Mercury is unusually high across all brands (110 to 550 µg/kg), well above typical dietary supplement values and above the applied regulatory limit of 1000 µg/kg. The numeric tables (Tables 1 to 3) in the PDF were image-rendered and could not be extracted. Tier B: absent DOI, no LOD/LOQ, image tables. Contributes to the upper tail of the contamination distribution for Iranian sports supplements.

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