Concentration and health risk assessment of heavy metals in green tea products consumed at Awka, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Consumption of food products is the most probable pathway of public health exposure to heavy metals. The most widely consumed non-alcoholic beverages is tea of different species. The present study deals with the investigation of heavy metals (Zn, Fe, Cd, Cu and Pb) in commonly consumed green tea brands purchased from Awka market in Nigeria to assess the possible health risk in association with their intake. The results showed that the average concentration of studied elements in tea samples vary in this trend; Fe > Zn > Cu > Pb > Cd. The meant levels of Zn, Fe, Cd, Cu and Pb in samples are 0.178, 0.590, 0.00, 0.066 and 0.047 mg/kg which are within the world health organization tolerable limits. Pearson correlation depicted strong positive and negative correlation between Cu/Zn and Pb/Zn and Pb/Cu while moderate negative correlation between Cu/Fe. Health risk assessment was also carried out on the basis of various health risk indices calculation. It was found that all the tea brands are non-contaminated with the toxic elements analyzed. Estimated daily intake of metal revealed that all the elements are within their reference dose. Calculated non-carcinogenic (THQ) and HI values for all the tested metals were below 1, suggesting that consumption of green tea should pose no potential risk to human health. There is need for constant monitoring of the metals in the consumed green tea to avoid long term accumulation leading to possible health challenge.

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