Overview
Poniedziałek and colleagues tested 168 EU-made multi-ingredient vitamin and mineral tablets from Polish pharmacies for dissolution, ten essential elements, and cadmium, hexavalent chromium, nickel and lead. Elements were measured in a simulated gastric (hydrochloric acid) extract of one tablet and reported per single dose.
Key numbers
- Cadmium and hexavalent chromium were not detected in any of the 168 products (Section 3.3).
- Lead was detected in 11 of 168 products (6.5%) at 0.07 ± 0.02 mg per single unit dose; all 11 exceeded the EU 3.0 mg/kg limit, two by 11.1-fold and 16.9-fold (Section 3.3, Fig. 3).
- Nickel was detected in 17 of 168 (10.1%) at 0.06 ± 0.01 mg per dose (Section 3.3).
- Iron: mean 6.8, maximum 246 mg per dose; 10 products exceeded the guideline level, mainly pregnancy supplements (Table 1).
Methods (brief)
One tablet was dissolved in 25 mL of 100 mmol/L hydrochloric acid, and the extract was mineralized with nitric acid and analyzed by MIP-OES with flame AAS as reference. Hexavalent chromium was measured by diphenylcarbazide colorimetry. BCR667, NIST2709 and IAEA405 were used for quality control, but recoveries and LODs are not printed.
Evidence Fitness
A large sample, but results are per tablet rather than per kilogram, toxic elements were measured in an acid extract rather than a full digest, and individual lead values appear only in a figure. These are finished multi-ingredient supplements, so for the vitamin-mineral-premix page this is a proxy (finished product, not premix) and that page is not linked.
Related evidence
- Ingredient class — vitamin/mineral (single, multi-mineral, multi-vitamin/mineral)
- Risk Assessment of Lead and Cadmium in Some Food Supplements Available on the Romanian Market
- Lead
- Cadmium
- Nickel
- Chromium, Hexavalent
Update history
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