Determination of toxic elements in yerba mate by ICP-MS after diluted acid digestion under O2 pressure

Elemental and Speciation Analyses of Different Brands of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis)

“…4 and 53), respectively. Surprisingly, the mean value of As(total) (1.35 mg kg −1 ) was 26 [ 20 ], 28 [ 11 , 19 ] and 34 times higher [ 1 , 22 ] than in the literature, however it was also found BQL in 38 samples. Additionally, it is difficult to clearly indicate whether the ultrasound-assisted extraction in 1 mol L −1 H 3 PO 4 (at room temperature) allows to extract its higher content than a traditional extraction in hot water (80 ± 10 °C).…”

“…is a native South American tree. It is an important commercial product, consumed in the largest quantities in Brazil and Uruguay, while Argentina is the largest exporter [ 1 ]. The consumption of yerba mate has expanded to different countries e.g., Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Korea, Japan, Syria, Russia, United States and Australia [ 2 ].…”

“…The consumption of yerba mate has expanded to different countries e.g., Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Korea, Japan, Syria, Russia, United States and Australia [ 2 ]. Yerba mate can accumulate both essential trace and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) [ 1 ] and their content depends on certain factors, such as soil type, exposure of plants to pollution, even harvest season [ 3 ]. High tolerance to metals or metalloids has evolved in a number of plant species.…”

“…Two main species, Fe(II) and Fe(III), are thermodynamically stable and kinetically reactive, however the role and the demand of these forms in living organisms are different [ 8 ]. Due to ambiguous classification of this material in the literature (as tea [ 9 ], laboratory plant [ 10 ] or wild–growing plant [ 11 ]), yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is widely used by authors as an application material for new analytical methods [ 1 , 5 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. It is surprising that the content of essential trace and potentially toxic elements in yerba mate have been obtained by ICP OES [ 18 ], ICP MS [ 1 , 19 ] or both ICP OES and ICP MS [ 11 , 20 ], excluding any speciation studies.…”

“…Due to ambiguous classification of this material in the literature (as tea [ 9 ], laboratory plant [ 10 ] or wild–growing plant [ 11 ]), yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) is widely used by authors as an application material for new analytical methods [ 1 , 5 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. It is surprising that the content of essential trace and potentially toxic elements in yerba mate have been obtained by ICP OES [ 18 ], ICP MS [ 1 , 19 ] or both ICP OES and ICP MS [ 11 , 20 ], excluding any speciation studies. Admittedly, some methods for determining the species of selenium [ 14 ], arsenic [ 12 ], iron [ 13 ], as well as iron and arsenic [ 17 ] in several samples of yerba mate have already been presented.…”