Heavy metals toxicity assessment in local and imported canned vegetables and fruits in Kuching, Sarawak / Erenena Erricatasha Henry

Canned foods are among the most essential food sources for consumers because they are widely available, inexpensive, and need little preparation. The objectives of this study are to determine the concentration of Cd and Pb in local and imported canned vegetables and fruits sold in local market in Kuching, Sarawak by using Shimadzu AA-7000 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) and compared it with the standard limit issued by the World Health Organization (WHO,1972) and the Ministry of Health of Malaysia (MOH, 2011). The toxicity assessment for these samples were than analyzed based on estimated daily intake (EDI) and target hazard quotient (THQ). The acid digestion method of nitric acid (HNO₃) and perchloric acid (HC1O₄) mixture was used in this study. Cd was the only metal detected in all samples analyzed. The lettuce sample showed the highest mean Cd concentration with 0.0113±0.0029 ppm. In contrast, lychee sample was observed with the lowest mean Cd concentration 0.00240±0.0010 PPM. All sample were recorded with Cd concentration below the permissible limit. The EDI values analyzes for adults and children were all lower than the oral reference does (RfD) and the THQ analysis calculated in this study was found to be less than one (< 1). Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the correlation between Cd and Pb in both local and imported samples. The result showed a weak positive correlation Cd and Pb with the value of Cd/Pb (r = 0.178).