Overview
Kihumbe and colleagues measured seven metals by flame AAS in one sample each of ten energy drink brands bought in Iringa, Tanzania, and calculated intake and risk indices. Lead, zinc and iron were not detected; cadmium was reported in every sample at levels far above other published energy-drink data.
Key numbers
- Lead not detected in any of ten drinks (AAS MDL 0.013 mg/L; Tables 1 and 3).
- Cadmium 0.09 to 0.15 mg/L, mean 0.126 ± 0.0156 mg/L (Table 3).
- Nickel 0.03 to 0.09 mg/L; chromium detected in three drinks, 0.01 to 0.12 mg/L (Table 3).
Methods (brief)
Microwave digestion following EPA 3052 and air-acetylene flame AAS. Method detection limits are printed per metal. Blanks, spikes and a recovery study are mentioned but no recoveries or reference materials are reported. One container per brand.
Evidence Fitness
Ten single samples. Cadmium values are unusually high for flame AAS and well above every comparison study in the paper’s own Table 4, so treat them with caution. This is a proxy for sports-drink-bases: it measures finished energy drinks, not drink bases.
Related evidence
Update history
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