Overview
Muneam and Abojassim bought 39 canned cheeses made in Iraq, Iran and Turkey from Iraqi markets in October 2021 and measured lead, cadmium and chromium by AAS. They report every sample and estimate intakes and hazard quotients for adults. Lead was present in almost every sample at levels of several mg/kg, far above the 0.02 mg/kg comparison value they cite.
Key numbers
- Lead group means “2.88±0.43” (Iraq), “4.33±0.57” (Iran) and “3.89±0.63” mg/kg (Turkey); highest single value 8.36 mg/kg (Table 2).
- Cadmium group means 0.131, 0.135 and 0.167 mg/kg; highest 0.434 mg/kg (Table 2).
- Chromium was not detected in most samples; highest 1.83 mg/kg (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Samples were dried at 70 °C, 1 g digested in nitric and perchloric acid, and analysed by AAS (graphite furnace). Detection limits are given as ranges (lead 0.03 to 0.1 ppm). Only calibration standards are described; no reference material or recovery is reported, and the basis is not stated.
Evidence Fitness
Per-sample data for 39 retail cheeses, but analytical QA is thin, the printed ± values look like standard errors rather than SDs, nondetects seem to be averaged as zero, and lead values repeat in coarse steps. The lead levels are unusually high for cheese. This is a different dataset from the same group’s Najaf cadmium study (HEAVY CADMIUM METAL DETERMINATION CONCENTRATION IN CHEESE). Cheese is a proxy for the macaroni and cheese page, not that dish.