Overview
Mohamed and colleagues measured chromium, cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, tin and iron by ICP-OES in 37 packaged fruit juices bought in Sana’a. Most juices had no detectable lead, but two mango juices exceeded the drinking-water lead value of 0.01 mg/L, one canned juice reaching 8.07 mg/L. Cadmium was found at 0.02 to 0.03 mg/L in seven juices.
Key numbers
- Canned mango juice (Mango2): lead 8.07 ± 1.65 mg/L; carton mango juice (Mango13): lead 0.20 ± 0.03 mg/L (Table 2).
- Cadmium 0.02 to 0.03 mg/L in seven juices (orange, mango, mixed fruit, grape); below detection in the rest (Table 2).
- Tin up to 18.65 ± 1.65 mg/L (Mango10) and iron up to 11.5 ± 2.6 mg/L (Mango15) (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Juice (0.5 mL) was digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide at 200 °C, diluted to 50 mL and read by axial ICP-OES in triplicate. Detection limits from blanks were 0.0233 mg/L for lead and 0.0013 mg/L for cadmium (Table 1). No certified reference material or recovery was reported.
Evidence Fitness
Each juice is a single product analyzed in triplicate; counts are inconsistent between the text (six orange juices, six juice types) and Table 2 (five orange juices, seven types). The lead detection limit of about 0.02 mg/L is high, so most juices are censored for lead. Results are per litre and were not converted. Packaged juices are direct evidence for fruit juice ready drinks; for cranberry juice cocktail, fruit ice pops, grape jelly, sorbet and apple cider vinegar this is a juice proxy only.