Heavy Metal Dietary Intake and Potential Health Risks for University Hostel Students

• Published in: Biological trace element research 2016-03, Vol.170 (1), p.65-74
• Main Authors: Hassan, Abdel-Rahim H. A, Zeinhom, Mohamed M. A, Abdel-Wahab, Mariam A, Tolba, Mona H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: arsenic; atomic absorption spectrometry; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Cadmium; canned fish; canned meat; chicken carcasses; chicken meat; College students; Dairy products; Diet; Food additives; food contamination; food intake; Health risks; Heavy metals; Humans; International standards; Lead; Life Sciences; Meat; Mercury; Metal concentrations; Metals, Heavy - administration & dosage; Metals, Heavy - adverse effects; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Nutrition; Oncology; Public health; risk; soft cheeses; Spectral analysis; Spectrophotometry, Atomic; Students; Studies; Thunnus; UHT milk; Universities
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-015-0451-z

The study was conducted to determine the residual concentration of Cd, Pb, Asand Hg in some foodstuffs served to university students living at hostels of Beni-Suef University (BSU), Egypt, and to estimate the dietary intake of such metals, as well as to assess the potential health risks associated with the consumption of such foods. Therefore, a total of 200 samples, 50 each of, soft cheese, UHT milk, raw broiler carcasses and canned tuna, were periodically collected from university hostels of BSU and examined for the residual levels of these metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The obtained results revealed that the mean residual levels of Cd in soft cheese, UHT milk, broiler’s meat and canned tuna samples were 0.37, 0.26, 0.089 and 0.093 mg/kg, respectively, while those of Pb were 0.187, 0.20, 0.181 and 0.164 mg/kg, respectively. Regarding As, they were 0.196, 0.24, 0.14 and 0.201 mg/kg, respectively, and Hg mean residual concentration accounted for 0.05, 0.05, 0.117 and 0.235 mg/kg, respectively. Some of the examined food samples had heavy metals’ concentrations above the international standards. The total weekly dietary intakes of Cd, Pb, As and Hg were 4.99, 5.38, 4.77 and 2.76 μg/kg bw/week, respectively, that were comparable to the provisional tolerable weekly intake recommended by the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). The total target hazard quotient (TTHQ) of broiler’s meat was over 1 (1.686), thus indicating possible health risks in contrast to the TTHQs of other foodstuffs that were below one.