Cadmium dietary intake in the Canary Islands, Spain

Cadmium (Cd) in the human diet constitutes a potential chronic hazard to health. In the nonsmoking general population, diet is the major source of cadmium exposure; therefore, it is important to monitor the dietary intake of this heavy metal to quantify and improve the understanding of Cd accumulation in the human body. The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of Cd in a range of food and drink commonly consumed in the Canary Islands. Food samples (420) were analyzed for Cd by atomic absorption spectrometry. The most recent nutritional survey conducted for the Canarian population was used to define the food and drink groups analyzed. The measured Cd concentrations combined with the food consumption data resulted in a total Cd intake in the Canary Islands of 0.16 microg/kg of body weight/day, which is well below the respective provisional tolerable weekly intake of Cd of 1 microg/kg of body weight per day determined by the FAO/WHO. The results are also compared with values reported for other national and international communities.