Overview
Khan and colleagues measured cadmium, lead, nickel, cobalt, copper, zinc, iron and chromium by flame AAS in 76 whole wheat grain samples from markets across district Swabi, Pakistan, collected in late 2019, and estimated daily intakes and hazard quotients. Table 1 gives one mean ± SD and range per metal on a fresh-weight basis.
Key numbers
- Lead: 0.97 ± 0.2 mg/kg, range not detected to 1.18 mg/kg (Table 1).
- Cadmium: 0.17 ± 0.1 mg/kg, range not detected to 0.41 mg/kg (Table 1).
- Nickel: 10.63 ± 1.3 mg/kg; chromium 8.51 ± 1.9 mg/kg (Table 1).
Methods (brief)
Extraneous matter removed, samples frozen, then wet digested in triplicate and analyzed by flame AAS (Shimadzu AA-7000). A blank was run every ten samples. No detection limits, certified reference materials or recoveries are reported.
Evidence Fitness
A reasonable sample count but weak analytical QA: flame AAS without reported detection limits for cadmium and lead at sub-mg/kg levels, and lead, nickel and chromium means are high for wheat grain. Results are pooled across all samples. Whole grain is a proxy only for chapattis, pie-crust, wheat-cereal-biscuits and whole-wheat-pasta; those pages are not linked.