Risk assessment of nickel through Portuguese homemade baby foods

Abstract

Children are the most vulnerable population group to food contaminants. Nickel is a human carcinogen and exposure to this metal occurs mainly through ingestion of contaminated food. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the risk posed by the exposure of children to nickel through homemade food in Portugal. The analytical methodology used for the determination of nickel was dry ashing followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry which allowed for a method detection limit of 17.4 µg kg−1. Samples (n = 146) of homemade food were analysed, including soups, main courses, fruits and non-commercial paps. From these, 121 (82.9%) were contaminated, with the non-commercial paps presenting the highest average (134 µg kg−1) and maximum (350 µg kg−1) nickel concentrations. These results were similar to those obtained for Portuguese commercial premade baby foods, discarding the possibility of nickel migration from the containers and lids alloys. Moreover, the estimated daily intake did not surpassed the actual tolerable daily intake for the different age groups, when using both average results and the worst case scenario.