Overview
This single-author study compares microwave acid digestion with an ultrasound-assisted deep eutectic solvent extraction for ICP-MS analysis of nine elements in five commercial red sugar samples, and scores both methods for sustainability. Lead was found in every sample, at up to several hundred µg/kg, and cadmium was below the LOQ in all.
Key numbers
- Lead by microwave digestion 12.1 to 426.1 µg/kg; by deep eutectic solvent extraction 180.5 to 918.6 µg/kg (Table 5).
- Chromium up to 221.1 µg/kg (microwave) and 227.1 µg/kg (solvent extraction) in sample S4 (Table 5).
- Cadmium below the LOQ (0.659 µg/kg) in all samples by both methods (Table 5).
Methods (brief)
Microwave HNO3/H2O2 digestion and ultrasound-assisted choline chloride:lactic acid extraction, ICP-MS. LOQ for lead 2.197 µg/kg; spike recoveries 96.2 to 105.1%; no matrix CRM.
Evidence Fitness
Only five samples, analysed mainly to compare methods, and the two methods disagree strongly for lead in four samples, so the lead values carry method uncertainty. Red sugar is a solid sugar, a proxy only for pancake-syrup; that page is not linked and no current page covers this food directly.