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Exposure and risk assessment for aluminium and heavy metals in Puerh tea.
- Source :
-
The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2010 Jun 15; Vol. 408 (14), pp. 2777-84. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Apr 21. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- As the consumption of Puerh tea is booming because of its multiple health-promoting effects, the possible health risks resulting from long-term exposure to metals contained in this tea need to be evaluated. To assess the human risk associated with drinking Puerh tea, concentrations of aluminium, lead, cadmium, mercury, zinc, copper and arsenic were determined in samples of Puerh tea, tea leaves from the plants, and planted soil collected from the Yunnan province, China. Site-specific exposure parameters such as body weight and consumption rate of Puerh tea were investigated in Kunming and Puer cities using face-to-face surveys. Health risks were evaluated for the inhabitants of Kunming and Puer cities by gender and by age groups. Although the Puerh tea plant easily absorbs aluminium from soil, the concentrations of Al and six other elements in Puerh tea were all far below the safety concentration limits of China. Both the HQ (Hazard Quotient) values for single elements and the HI (Hazard Index) value for all seven elements were far below one, indicating no non-carcinogenic risks from these seven elements for inhabitants of Kunming and Puer under the current consumption rates of Puerh tea. However, probabilistic estimation of carcinogenic risk shows that the 95th percentile carcinogenic rate of arsenic in Puerh tea approaches the accepted risk level of 10(-4) for the highest exposure group. Therefore, the arsenic in Puerh tea is of concern.<br /> (Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
- Subjects :
- Adult
Arsenic analysis
Body Weight
Camellia sinensis growth & development
China
Environmental Exposure statistics & numerical data
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Plant Leaves chemistry
Plant Leaves growth & development
Risk Assessment
Surveys and Questionnaires
Tea standards
Young Adult
Aluminum analysis
Camellia sinensis chemistry
Environmental Exposure analysis
Metals, Heavy analysis
Soil Pollutants analysis
Tea chemistry
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1879-1026
- Volume :
- 408
- Issue :
- 14
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Science of the total environment
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 20413147
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.03.019