Overview
Todorovska measured arsenic, cadmium, lead, copper and zinc by AAS in three units each of 20 vegetable foods bought for military meals in North Macedonia, including canned green beans and peas in tin, peppers, beets and pickles in glass and tin, tomato paste, mushrooms and dried herbs. Results are printed per unit in µg/kg. Products in tin carried more lead than the same products in glass.
Key numbers
- Canned green beans (tin): arsenic “70”, “52”, “60”; cadmium “20”, “21”, “20”; lead “70”, “88”, “86” µg/kg (Table 4, p. 35-36).
- Pasteurized peppers: lead “230”, “220”, “170” µg/kg in glass vs “440”, “405”, “390” µg/kg in tin (Table 5, p. 36).
- Tomato paste: lead “660”, “680”, “750” µg/kg; cadmium “50”, “45”, “35” µg/kg (Table 8, p. 36).
- Ground paprika: lead up to “505” µg/kg (Table 10, p. 37).
Methods (brief)
Samples were digested with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. Copper and zinc were read by flame AAS, arsenic by hydride AAS and cadmium and lead by electrothermal AAS. Solution detection limits were 0.1 µg/L (cadmium) to 0.6 µg/L (lead); values below were marked nd. No reference material or recovery is reported, and the basis (fresh or dry) is not stated.
Evidence Fitness
Three units per product, single results, no quality-control data. Canned green beans in tin are a direct match for canned-green-beans. Tomato paste is a proxy for pasta-sauce, not a sauce, and that page is not linked. The canned green bean copper and zinc values repeat the fresh bean values in Table 1, and the mixed seasoning arsenic, cadmium and lead values repeat the tomato paste values in Table 8, which suggests copy errors; the extraction flags them.