Assessment of toxic and essential heavy metals in imported dried fruits sold in the local markets of Jordan

Abstract

In the present study, the concentrations of nine heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu, Mg, Cr, Ni, Cd, and Pb) in six different imported dried fruit samples of different brands (Mangoes, black raisins, figs, apricots, plums, and cranberries) were determined by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS) after wet digestion. Samples were collected from different stores in Amman, Jordan. The average concentration of the selected metals in the analyzed samples were found to be in the range of 1.70-8.70 (Fe), 0.15-0.72 (Zn), 0.09-0.59 (Mn), 0.07-0.46 (Cu), 2.5-53.4 (Mg), 0.06-0.15 (Cr), 0.17-0.29 (Ni), 0.01-0.05 (Cd), and 0.11-0.57 (Pb) µg/g. The highest concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn, Mg, and Ni were found in dried figs, highest concentrations of Cr, Cd, and Pb were found in dried apricots, and highest concentrations of Cu was found in dried black raisins. The results obtained in this study showed that Mg and Fe have the highest concentrations in all analyzed samples, whereas, the lowest concentrations obtained were for Cd and Cr. The concentrations of the highly toxic metals (Pb and Cd) in the all analyzed samples were found to be below or in good agreement with the permissible limits set by different health organizations. The figures of merit obtained for the FAAS calibration curves are brilliant with good linearity (r2 > 0.99). The FAAS method was validated by determining limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ), and percent recovery (%R) for all investigated metals. The results obtained in this work were compared with the literature reported values.

Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Roadside Soils along Irbid-Amman Highway, Jordan by ICP-OES

“…The working standard solutions of each studied metal were freshly prepared by diluting an appropriate aliquot of standard solution (1000 mg/L) using 0.5% (v:v) HNO 3 . From the linear calibration curve, the limit of detection LOD (µg/g) and limit of quantitation LOQ (µg/g) were estimated using the following equations [1] :…”

“…However, soil pollution poses a serious threat to human health through polluting the plants, ground water and the atmosphere. Toxic heavy metals, such as Mercury (Hg), Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), Chromium (Cr), Tin (Sn), Nickel (Ni) or Arsenic (As) are hazardous environmental pollutants that are known to have an adverse impact on human health [1][2][3][4][5] . On the other hand, other elements like Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Selenium (Se), Manganese (Mn), Magnesium (Mg) or Molybdenum (Mo) are important for human health as essential micronutrients and can be toxic if present in excess [6,7] .…”

The Determination of Lead and Cadmium Concentration in the Agricultural Soils Alongside Highway 080 of Igdir Province

“…Toxic heavy metals mainly lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and others such as mercury (Hg), chromium (Cr), tin (Sn), nickel (Ni) and arsenic (As) are perilous pollutants. They are well known to have a negative effect on human health (Al-Massaedh et al, 2018), and are characterized by persistency in the environment and very long biological half-life (Massadeh and Al-Massaedh, 2018). Accumulation of Pb in farmland soils is based on industrial and/or agricultural pollution origin (Keçeci et al, 2020).…”