Kowalski et al. 2024 - Heavy metals in commercial herbal teas
This study measured Pb, Cd, total As, total Hg, and Cr in commercial herbal tea samples purchased in Poland. It is routeable for dried herbal-tea material and herbal-infusion product context because it reports metal ranges, exceedance counts, and health-risk indices.
Key numbers
- The study analyzed 48 commercial herbal tea samples including chamomile, peppermint, hibiscus, rooibos, green tea, and ginger.
- Pb was detected in all 48 samples, ranging from 0.08 to 3.41 mg/kg.
- Cd was detected in 43 samples, ranging from 0.01 to 0.87 mg/kg.
- Total As was detected in 38 samples, ranging from 0.01 to 0.42 mg/kg.
- Hg and Cr were below quantification limits in most samples.
- Nine of 48 samples (18.8%) exceeded the EU lead maximum level of 2.0 mg/kg for dried herbs cited by the authors.
- Six of 48 samples (12.5%) exceeded the cadmium limit of 0.3 mg/kg cited by the authors.
- Health risk indices calculated by the authors for an adult drinking two cups daily were below 1.0 for individual metals.
Methods
Samples were analyzed by ICP-MS. The paper reports detection limits between 0.002 and 0.01 mg/kg and presents concentrations in mg/kg.
Implications
The source supports occurrence evidence for herbal-botanical tea materials in the Polish retail market. It also provides regulatory exceedance context for Pb and Cd in dried herbs.
Wiki pages this source may touch
- herbal-botanicals
- tea
- herbal-botanical-infusions
- tea-infusions
- lead
- cadmium
- arsenic-total
- mercury-total
- chromium
Verification notes
The paper reports total arsenic and total mercury. Product names were not transcribed.
Page history
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