Abstract
Thirteen Jamaican-grown food crops - ackee (Blighia sapida), banana (Musa acuminate), cabbage (Brassica oleracea), carrot (Daucus carota), cassava (Manihot esculenta), coco (Xanthosoma sagittifolium), dasheen (Colocasia esculenta), Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and turnip (Brassica rapa) - were analysed for aluminium, arsenic, cadmium and lead by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and instrumental neutron activation analysis. The fresh weight mean concentrations in these food crops (4.25-93.12mg/kg for aluminium; 0.001-0.104mg/kg for arsenic; 0.015-0.420mg/kg for cadmium; 0.003-0.100mg/kg for lead) were used to calculate the estimated daily intake (EDI), target hazard quotient (THQ), hazard index (HI) and target cancer risk (TCR) for arsenic, associated with dietary exposure to these potentially toxic elements. Each food type had a THQ and HI<1 indicating no undue non-carcinogenic risk from exposure to a single or multiple potentially toxic elements from the same food. The TCR for arsenic in these foods were all below 1×10-4, the upper limit used for acceptable cancer risk. There is no significant health risk to the consumer associated with the consumption of these Jamaican-grown food crops.
Highlights
The primary method of exposure to trace elements from the nonoccupationally exposed population is through diet
The aluminium content ranges from 2.58 mg/kg found in pumpkins to a high of 93.12 mg/kg in bananas
The cadmium content was analysed from 0.015 mg/kg in pumpkin samples to 0.286 mg/kg in turnip though both the mean cadmium content of tomatoes and ackee were close to this value at 0.266 and 0.248 mg/kg respectively
Summary
The primary method of exposure to trace elements from the nonoccupationally exposed population is through diet. In the case of nutrition, iron deficiency is considered the most prevalent nutritional deficiency [1]. Inadequate zinc intake is prevalent as well; it has been estimated that 17.3% of the global population is at risk of zinc deficiency [2]. From a food safety standpoint, the intakes of several trace elements are strictly regulated by several international bodies including the Codex Alimentarius and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), as well as numerous regional and national bodies. In the year 2011, JECFA withdrew the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) for both lead and inorganic arsenic with the recommendation that the previously established PTWIs could no longer be considered health protective [3,4]. JECFA has since not reestablished a PTWI for either element
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