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Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment of Trace Elements in Baby Food and Milk Powder Using ICP-OES Method

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Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the concentration and health risk of trace elements in milk powder and baby food samples marketed in Iran using inductive couple plasma/optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were ranged from 1.80 × 10–5 to 2.17 × 10–3 and 6.00 × 10–5 to 7.22 × 10–3 mg/kg, respectively, with recoveries ranged from 92 to 105%. Zinc (Zn) was found in a high mean concentration (8.49 × 10–1 ± 3.93 × 10–2 mg/kg) in milk powder, and iron (Fe) was found in the highest mean concentration (2.04 ± 3.61 × 10–2 mg/kg) in baby food. The Monte Carlo simulation results for the infants revealed that the rank order of the hazard quotient (HQ) index was mercury (Hg) > nickel (Ni) > arsenic (As) > cadmium (Cd) > aluminum (Al). Further, the result of non-carcinogenic and probability of carcinogenic risk was lower than the limits of safe risk (HQ > 1 and cancer risk (CR) > 1 × 10–4). In conclusion, the toxic elements content in the tested products was sufficiently low, and all of the milk powder and baby food sold in Iran could be considered safe for infants and children.

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Funding

This study was carried out by the researchers in the Fasa University of Medical Sciences and Health Services with grant number (NO. 97380). Funding obtained for this study has been fully spent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran

    Amin Kiani

  2. Vice-Chancellery of Food and Drug, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran

    Majid Arabameri

  3. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mojtaba Moazzen, Nabi Shariatifar & Gholamreza Jahed Khaniki

  4. Department of Food Sciences and Technology/National Nutrition and Food Technology Research, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Saeed Aeenehvand

  5. Food Toxicology & Contaminants Dept, National Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

    Mosaad Abdel-Wahhab

  6. Health Products Safety Research Center, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran

    Saeed Shahsavari

Authors
  1. Amin Kiani
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  2. Majid Arabameri
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  3. Mojtaba Moazzen
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  4. Nabi Shariatifar
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  5. Saeed Aeenehvand
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  7. Mosaad Abdel-Wahhab
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  8. Saeed Shahsavari
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Contributions

Nabi Shariatifar: Conceptualization; Supervision; Design of study; Writing, reviewing and editing. Amin Kiani.: Data curation; Writing, original draft preparation. Gholamreza Jahed Khaniki: Visualization, Investigation. Mojtaba Moazzen: Writing, reviewing and editing; Software. Saeed Aeenehvand: Writing, reviewing and editing; Methodology; Validation. Majid Arabameri: Software, Methodology, Validation. Saeed Shahsavari: Software, Methodology, Validation. Mossad Abdel-Wahhab: Writing, reviewing and editing; Design of study; Methodology; Validation.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nabi Shariatifar.

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This study does not involve any human or animal testing, or this study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Food Safety of Fasa University of Medical Sciences.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kiani, A., Arabameri, M., Moazzen, M. et al. Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment of Trace Elements in Baby Food and Milk Powder Using ICP-OES Method. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 2486–2497 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02808-w

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