Assessment of Exposure to Metals in Wheat-Based Sweets: Human Risk Evaluation ^†

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about the negative impact of unforeseen contaminants like metals in commonly consumed food items, posing a threat to human well-being. Globally, controlling food contamination has become a significant issue, given the potential risks it poses to human health. The goal of the current research is to determine the levels of essential (EMs: Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, and Zn) and potentially toxic metals (PTMs: Al, Cr, Ni, As, Cd, and Pb) in various brands of conventional wheat-based sweets. One hundred samples were collected and analyzed using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Also, the current study aimed at investigating the distribution, correlation, and multivariate analysis of 13 metals (Mg, Ca, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Al, Cr, Ni, As, Cd, and Pb).

The obtained metal concentrations were used to calculate the average daily intake (ADI), target hazard quotients (THQ), hazard indices (HI), carcinogenic risk (CR), and cumulative carcinogenic risk (CCR). The results also revealed that almost all sweet samples under evaluation had metal concentrations of Mn, Co, Pb, Cr, and Cd above WHO/FAO permitted levels. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of Ca (7.47 × 10⁻²) and Cr (2.05 × 10⁻³) was the highest among essential elements and potentially toxic elements, respectively. The THQ values were below the threshold level, i.e., 1, whereas the HI values of several sweets were found to be above the threshold level, i.e., >1, which can lead to significant health hazards. The CR values for Cu were in the range of 1.13 × 10⁻⁴ to 2.63 × 10⁻⁴ for several samples, which is at the threshold level.

This study highlights the importance of monitoring essential and potentially toxic elements levels, and identifies the potential health risks associated with consuming contaminated wheat-based sweets.