Ziyaina et al. 2014 — Lead and cadmium in Tripoli market spices

Ziyaina and colleagues measured Pb and Cd in selected spices available in Tripoli City markets, Libya. The study covered red pepper, black pepper, turmeric, and mixed spices collected from wholesale and retail markets, then analyzed nitric-acid/hydrogen-peroxide digests by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The main occurrence signal is that Pb means were below the source-cited FAO/WHO limit, while Cd means for several spice/source combinations were above the source-cited 0.2 ppm recommendation.

Key numbers

Two table rows are internally inconsistent in the extracted source: the mixed-spices retailer Pb row prints max 0.74 and min 1.04, and the mixed-spices retailer Cd row prints average 0.36 despite min 0.42 and max 0.51. This page preserves the printed table values and flags the inconsistencies instead of transposing them.

Methods (brief)

The study focused on imported spices traded in Libyan markets in 2011. Twenty-four samples of each spice type were collected from seven wholesale markets, and 36 samples of each spice type were collected from retailers in metropolitan Tripoli. Homogenized spice samples were dried at 100 deg C for 24 h; 5 g portions were digested with 65% HNO3 and 30% H2O2, reheated, diluted with distilled water, filtered through Whatman No. 42 and <0.45 ml filters as stated by the source, and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry (Varian AAS240, USA). Standards were prepared from 1000 mg L-1 stock solutions, and means/standard deviations were computed with SAS.LMC and Duncan’s multiple range test.

Implications

This source contributes Libyan-market spice occurrence data for Pb and Cd, separated by retail and wholesale channels. It is relevant to the spices product row and to ingredient context for black pepper, turmeric, and mixed spice blends. The source’s own discussion points to market-chain variability in Libya; downstream extraction should retain the channel distinction and the source-table anomaly notes.

Verification notes

• PDF text extracted with pdftotext -layout; title page, abstract, methods, Tables 1-3, conclusion, and references were readable.
• DOI verified from the first page as 10.5897/AJBR2014.0766; DOI, raw handle MFK_mohamed2014, and cite-key checks found no existing source page before creation.
• The cite key uses the first author’s surname, Ziyaina, from the byline Mohamed Ziyaina; the raw handle preserves the input filename.
• All Pb/Cd max, min, average, sample-count, analytical-wavelength, and comparator values above were checked against the extracted abstract, Methods, Tables 2-3, and conclusion.
• Units are preserved as reported (mg/kg, ppm, mg L-1); no conversion was performed.
• Speciation: Pb and Cd are elemental totals after acid digestion; no arsenic, mercury, or chromium speciation issue applies.
• Source-table anomalies: the mixed-spices retailer Pb and Cd rows contain internally inconsistent max/min/average fields. This page reports them as printed and notes the inconsistency for audit.
• Frontmatter product and ingredient slugs were checked against docs/gpt-collaboration/taxonomy-snapshot.md; no new product or ingredient slug was invented.

Page history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.