Cadmium and lead in fresh fruits and fruit products sold on the local market in the Republic of Serbia, 2018–2021

ABSTRACT

Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) concentrations were determined in 737 samples of 39 species of fruits and of processed fruits (n = 13), collected during the period January 2018 to September 2021. Fruits and fruit products originated from 47 countries, including Serbia. Samples were analysed by inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Overall, Cd and Pb were found above the limit of detection (LOD) in 97 samples (13.9%). Cd and Pb concentrations were below the LOD in all samples of fruit products. According to the valid regulations before September 2021, the maximum level (ML) of Cd for analysed fruits was exceeded in only 1 sample (0.14%; n = 737), while concentrations of Pb in each analysed fruit sample was below the ML. According to the legislative regulations as set after September 2021, the maximum levels of Cd and Pb for fruits were exceeded in 5, respectively 1, of the samples, so 6 in total (0.81%; n = 737).

KEYWORDS:

• Fruits
• fruit products
• cadmium
• lead
• maximum levels

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Republic of Serbia under Grant [451-03-47/2023-01/200134]. Also, this research has been done in liaison with the activities defined by the grant for the establishment and implementation of the research-innovation-scientific programme “Centre of Excellence (CoE) for digitalization of microbial food safety risk assessment and quality parameters for accurate food authenticity certification (FoodHub)”, financed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Montenegro under Grant No [01-3660/2].