Evaluation of dietary health risks of metals in peppers based on physiologically based extraction test

Background  The pollution of agricultural products and the health risks caused by metals have become a hot spot of social concern. As China's main economic agricultural products, peppers are essential for health risk assessment.

Objective  By exploring the enrichment of common metals in different varieties of peppers in major growing areas of China, a bioavailability-based approach is used to assess dietary health risks of common metals in groups with different characteristics.

Methods  Through random sampling method, dried pepper samples from major pepper growing areas of China were purchased from the market, and were divided into Hippophae, Capsicum annuum, Magnoliopsida, Capsicum frutescens var, and Capsicum by morphological taxonomy, and a total of 667 batches of peppers were collected. Six common metals arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) were evaluated; physiologically based extraction test was designed to estimate the bioavailability of the metals in peppers and their associated dietary health risks were assessed.

Results  The concentrations of metals Cd and Ni in pepper exceeded the limits of China, and the disqualification rates were 6.1% and 22.7% respectively. The other metals were within the safe range; there were differences in the concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn among different pepper varieties (P<0.05). The order of bioavailability of the six metals in pepper from high to low was As (57.9%)>Cd (43.07%)>Zn (42.74%)>Pb (38.04%)>Ni (31.97%)>Cu (31.4%). Based on bioavailability, when the metal concentration in pepper was at the median level, the order of hazard quotient of metals in pepper was Cu>Cd>As>Ni>Zn>Pb, and at the 90th quantile level, the order was Cd>As>Cu>Ni>Zn>Pb; the hazard quotient of single metal element and the total target hazard quotient of combined metal elements were both less than 1, and these indicators of adults were higher than those of children.

Conclusion  In the collected pepper samples, the non-carcinogenic health risks of single metal elements and multiple metal elements are in the safe range. Based on gastrointestinal bioavailability, the dietary health risk of pepper is further reduced.