Assessing transfer of aluminum during tea brewing and associated population health risks

Abstract

Tea is consumed widely around the world owing to its refreshing taste and potential health benefits. However, drinking tea is considered a major route for dietary aluminum exposure in areas where tea consumption is relatively large. To assess the health risk associated with drinking tea, the contamination level of aluminum was determined in 81 tea samples. The transfer rate of aluminum during tea brewing was investigated. Then based on the site-specific exposure parameters such as consumption data and body weight for six different subpopulations in Fujian, the exposure risks were estimated using a probabilistic approach. Results demonstrate that the contents of aluminum in green tea, white tea, oolong tea, and black tea were significantly different according to the one-way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.05). The transfer rate of aluminum were 32.6%, 31.6%, 26.3%, and 14% for white tea, black tea, oolong tea, and green tea, respectively. With respect to the oral reference dose, the exposure of inhabitants in Fujian to aluminum through drinking tea is under control (even at the 99th percentile).

Keywords:

• Tea
• aluminum
• transfer rate
• probabilistic modeling
• risk assessment
• subpopulations

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Program for Quality and Safety on Agro-products of China [GJFP2020001]; Collaborative innovation project in Fujian Province [XTCXGC2021020]; the Program for Public Welfare Scientific Research Institute in Fujian Province [2020R1022004]; and the Project for Youth Innovation Team in Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences [CXTD 2021011–3].