Determination of metal contents in herbal tea mixtures consumed in Belgrade using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The metal contents of Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, As, Cd, Sn, Hg and Pb in the five herbal tea mixtures containing a variety of different plants were determined. Microwave-assisted acid digestion was used for all of the samples, and the element contents were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). A matched calibration curve method was used for the quantification of the analytes. For accuracy assay, SRM 2977, NIST, Mussel Tissue (Organic Contaminants and Trace Elements) was used. The obtained results agreed with the certified values. The concentration of all elements varied among examined herbal tea mixtures and are in the expected intervals. The contents of all investigated toxic elements were below the maximum permissible levels.

U ovom radu određen je sadržaj metala u pet izabranih mešavina biljnih čajeva. Devet elemenata: Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn, As, Cd, Sn, Hg i Pb su analizirani metodom induktivno spregnute plazme sa masenom spektrometrijom (ICP-MS). Uzorci su pripremani mikrotalasnom digestijom, sadržaj metala određen je primenom eksterne kalibracije, a tačnost metode proverena je pomoću standardnog referentnog materijala (SRM 2977, NIST) i internog standarda. Dobijeni rezultati su u dobroj saglasnosti sa sertifikovanim vrednostima. U zavisnosti od ispitivane mešavine, koncentracije analiziranih elemenata su različite i nalaze se u očekivanim intervalima. Koncentracije svih teških metala su ispod dozvoljene granice.