Department of Bromatology, Faculty of Pharmacy with the Division of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Białystok, Mickiewicza 2D Street, 15-222 Białystok, Poland.
Nutrients. 2022 Jun 3;14(11):2342. doi: 10.3390/nu14112342.
Nutritional food quality plays a crucial role in maintaining human health. However, food and drinking water, along with occupational exposure, are the main routes of exposure to toxic elements for humans. The main aim of this study was to determine the content of As, Cd, Pb and Hg in naturally gluten-free grains and products made from buckwheat, millet, maize, quinoa and oat. The safety of consumption of the products tested was also assessed.
The contents of As, Cd and Pb were determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). To measure Hg, an atomic absorption spectrometry method (AAS) with the amalgamation technique was applied. To assess the level of consumption of the tested products, an online survey was conducted. To estimate health risk, three indicators were used: the target hazard quotient (THQ), cancer risk (CR) and hazard index (HI). The research material obtained 242 different samples without replications.
The highest average content of As, Cd, Pb and Hg were observed for the following groups of products: oat (10.19 µg/kg), buckwheat (48.35 µg/kg), millet (74.52 µg/kg) and buckwheat (1.37 µg/kg), respectively. For six samples, exceedance of established limits was found-three in the case of Cd and three of Pb. Due to the lack of established limits, As and Hg content of the tested products was not compared. Generally, no increased health risks were identified.
Based on the obtained results, the consumption of gluten-free cereals and pseudocereals available on the Polish market seems to be safe. However, there is a great need to establish maximum levels of the toxic elements, especially As and Hg in cereal products in European legislation.
营养食品质量对维持人类健康起着至关重要的作用。然而，食物和饮用水以及职业暴露是人类接触有毒元素的主要途径。本研究的主要目的是测定荞麦、小米、玉米、藜麦和燕麦等天然无麸质谷物及其制品中砷、镉、铅和汞的含量，并评估所测试产品的食用安全性。
采用电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定砷、镉和铅的含量，应用原子吸收光谱法（AAS）结合汞蒸气发生技术测定汞的含量。为了评估测试产品的消费水平，进行了在线调查。为了评估健康风险，使用了三个指标：目标危害系数（THQ）、癌症风险（CR）和危害指数（HI）。本研究共获得了 242 种不同的样本，无重复。
在以下几组产品中观察到砷、镉、铅和汞的平均含量最高：燕麦（10.19µg/kg）、荞麦（48.35µg/kg）、小米（74.52µg/kg）和荞麦（1.37µg/kg）。在 6 个样本中发现超过规定限量的情况，其中 3 个样本中镉含量超标，3 个样本中铅含量超标。由于缺乏规定限量，因此未对测试产品的砷和汞含量进行比较。总体而言，未发现健康风险增加。
根据所得结果，波兰市场上销售的无麸质谷物和假谷物的消费似乎是安全的。然而，非常有必要在欧洲法规中建立谷物产品中有毒元素，特别是砷和汞的最大限量。
