Monitoring and Health Risk Assessment of Lead and Cadmium in Date Palm Fruit Cultivars Growing in Morocco.

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the levels of two toxic trace elements (lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd)) in 84 date fruit samples of four varieties (Mejhoul, Bouittob, Aziza and Boufegouss) produced in four Moroccan areas, using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, and to assess their risk to the consumer health. Results showed that out of the total samples, Pb was detected in 39 date fruit samples (46.43%) in the range of 0.0001-0.118mg/kg, with an average level of 0.016 ± 0.0005mg/kg. For Cd levels, a total of 40 samples (47.62%) were found to be contaminated with Cd levels ranging from 0.0004 to 0.752mg/kg, with a mean value of 0.079 ± 0.003mg/kg. Cadmium levels exceeded the European maximum regulatory limit (MRL) of 0.020mg/kg in 17 date samples, which represents 20.24%. However, only one sample (1.19%) was above the MRL for Pb (0.10mg/kg) set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) values were found to be below 1. Furthermore, cancer risk (CR) levels exceeded the acceptable ranges. As a result, the non-carcinogenic risk assessments have concluded that consuming date fruits is safe and unlikely to harm harmful effects to the consumers. However, the date consumption may pose a significant lifetime carcinogenic risk to consumers from date-growing regions.