Health risk assessment of eight heavy metals in nine varieties of edible vegetable oils consumed in China

Eight heavy metals, namely Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cd, Ni, Pb and As, in nine varieties of edible vegetable oils collected from China were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) after microwave digestion. The accuracy of procedure was confirmed by certified reference materials (GBW10018 and GBW08551). The relative standard deviations were found below 10%. The concentrations for copper, zinc, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and arsenic were observed in the range of 0.214-0.875, 0.742-2.56, 16.2-45.3, 0.113-0.556, 0.026-0.075, 0.009-0.018 and 0.009-0.019 μg g−1, respectively. Cadmium was found to be 2.64-8.43 μg/kg. In general, iron content was higher than other metals in the investigated edible vegetable oils. Comparing with safety intake levels for these heavy metals recommended by Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM), US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the dietary intakes of the eight heavy metals from weekly consumption of 175 g of edible vegetable oils or daily consumption 25 g of edible vegetable oils for a 70 kg individual should pose no risk to human health.

► This is the first time that the different varieties of edible vegetable oils were studied in China. ► The levels of cadmium, lead and arsenic were all higher than those in previous reports. ► Iron was found to be the dominant elemental ion as compared with other heavy metals in edible vegetable oils. ► The estimated intakes of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Cd, Ni, Pb and As from the vegetable oils pose no risk to human health.