Survey of content of cadmium, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, sodium and zinc in chamomile and green tea leaves by electrothermal or flame atomizer atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

Due to the simplicity of tea preparation (pouring hot water onto different dried herbs) and its high popularity as a beverage, monitoring and developing a screening methodology for detecting the metal content is very important. The concentrations of Cd, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mg, Mn, Hg, Na and Zn in 8 samples of green tea (Camellia sinesis) and in 11 samples chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) purchased both at local herbal pharmacies and supermarkets were determined using electrothermal atomizer atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) and flame atomizer atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The found concentrations in chamomile were: Cd (0.008 – 284 mg kg−1), Ca (2.42 – 6.29%), Cr (0.91 – 6.92 mg kg−1), Cu (6.27 – 11.39 mg kg−1), Fe (133.5 – 534 mg kg−1), Pb (0.561 – 1.277 mg kg−1), Mg (2.27 – 3.73%), Mn (62.2 – 165.6 mg kg−1), Hg (0.660 – 1.346 μg kg−1), Na (0.91 – 1.28%) and Zn (63.37 – 108.5 mg kg−1), in green tea Cd (36.29 – 202.1 mg kg−1), Ca (2.77 – 6.40%), Cr (1.520 – 5.278 mg kg−1), Cu (9.354 – 22.56 mg kg−1), Fe (162.6 – 513.3 mg kg−1), Pb (1.808 – 4.770 mg kg−1), Mg (1.41 – 2.62 %), Mn (1.147 – 1.729 g kg−1), Hg (1.045 – 2.802 μg kg−1), Na (0.44 – 0.98%) and Zn (30.65 – 115.6 mg kg−1), respectively. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify factors (soil, climate and country of origin) influencing the content of the measured elements in herbal samples. The proposed methodology developed in this work was successfully applied to the detection of metals in herbal samples. The analysis showed that the content of toxic metals in green tea samples was significantly higher and very close to the maximum dose recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Development and Application of an Atomic Absorption Spectrometry-Based Method to Quantify Magnesium in Leaves of Dioscorea polystachya

“…The LOQ was 2.00 µg L −1 . These particular performance characteristics exceed the values reported in the literature, e.g., for the determination of magnesium using AAS in leaf samples of different origins [26][27][28][29].…”

Application of zinc oxide reduces the bioavailability and specific uptake of cadmium by alfalfa grown in a cadmium-contaminated alkaline soil

“…Oven-dried shoots and roots not used for extraction of rhizosheath carboxylates were nely ground using a ceramic mortar and pestle, then about 0.5 g subsample of each ground sample was weighed and digested in a hot concentrated HNO 3 and HClO 4 mixture (HNO 3 :HClO 4 = 4:1, v:v) using a heating block according to Zarcinas et al (1987). Cadmium and Zn concentrations in the solution obtained after the digestion were determined at 228.8 nm and 213.9 nm, respectively, on a PinAAcle 900 atomic absorption spectrometer (Prkic et al 2018). The root-to-shoot translocation factor of Cd was calculated as the ratio between shoot Cd concentration and root Cd concentration, and the translocation factor of Zn was calculated in a similar way (Mahdavian et al 2017).…”