Pesticides, trace elements and pharmaceuticals in tea samples available in Belgian retail shops and the risk associated upon acute and chronic exposure

ABSTRACT

Over the last decade, the consumption of tea and herbal tea has gained more and more popularity across the globe, but the potential presence of chemical contaminants (e.g. pesticides, trace elements, synthetic drugs) may raise health concerns. This study analysed selected teas available in Belgian retail stores and performed a risk assessment for these samples. No chemical adulteration could be detected in dry tea material. More than 38% of the dry leaves samples contained at least one pesticide exceeding the maximal residue level (MRL) set by the EU. However, further risk assessment, based on the values of pesticide residues and the toxic trace elements encountered in the brew, demonstrate that the consumption of these teas will not give rise to health concerns. Nonetheless, attention should be given to the leaching potential of nickel from teas and the presence of arsenic in brews from algae containing teas.

KEYWORDS:

• Tea and herbal teas
• pesticide residue analysis
• trace elements analysis
• risk assessment studies

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Angélique Kamugisha, Michael Canfyn, Ronny Machiels, Krissy Brouwers for their laboratory technical assistance. The authors also acknowledged Nadia Waegeneers for her discussion in the risk assessment of trace elements.

Disclosure statement

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

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/19393210.2022.2145617

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.