Estimated Dietary Intakes of Toxic Elements from Four Staple Foods in Najran City, Saudi Arabia

Hatem Mohamed, Parvez I. Haris and Eid I. Brima
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Hatem Mohamed: Faculty of Health and Life Science, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
Parvez I. Haris: Faculty of Health and Life Science, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK
Eid I. Brima: Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-14

Abstract: Exposure of the inhabitants of Najran area in Saudi Arabia to the toxic elements As, Cd, Cr, and Pb through foods has not been previously investigated. Exposure to such elements is an important public health issue, so the study described here was performed with the aim of determining estimated dietary intakes (EDIs) for these metals in Najran area. The As, Cd, Cr, and Pb concentrations in four staple foods (rice, wheat, red meat, and chicken) were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was completed by 80 study participants. These data were used to estimate dietary intakes of the metals in the four staple foods. The mean As, Cd, Cr, and Pb EDIs in the four food types were 1.1 × 10 ?6 –2.6 × 10 ?5 , 1.42 × 10 ?5 –2.2 × 10 ?4 , 3.4 × 10 ?4 –8.0 × 10 ?4 , and 2.3 × 10 ?5 –2.1 × 10 ?3 mg/kg bw day, respectively. Hazard Quotients (HQ) for all elements did not exceed one. The highest Pb concentration was found for chicken and the source of this toxic element in this food needs to be investigated in the future. The lowest As concentration was found for wheat highest in rice. The EDIs for all elements in the four food types were below the provisional tolerable weekly intakes set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Keywords: toxic; elements; rice; wheat; meat; chicken; risk assessment; EDI; Najran; KSA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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