Characteristic levels of heavy metals in canned sardines consumed in Nigeria

摘要

Samples of some popular brands of canned sardines in soybean oil in the Nigerian market were analyzed for levels of cadmium, lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, manganese, chromium, copper and zinc after wet digestion with acids by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectro-photometry. The mean concentrations for the metals in the different brands were as follows: cadmium 0.11-0.26 μg/g, iron 8.04-48,18 μg/g, cobalt 0.01-7.23 μg/g, nickel 0.04-3.26 μg/g, manganese 0.64-1.37 μg/g, chromium 0.01-0.10 μg/g, copper 0.10 μg/g and zinc 0.09-4.63 μg/g. Significant differences were observed in the heavy metal levels in the different brands of canned sardines except for copper and chromium. Cadmium, nickel and lead exceeded statutory safe limits.