Determination of Element Concentration of Brewed Tea Consumed in Iran Using ICP-OES: A Risk Assessment Study

Tea is a popular drink enjoyed by many people around the world. However, it is important to note that impurities and contaminants in tea can potentially threaten human health when consumed. The main objective of this research is to assess the concentration of 16 trace elements (As, Fe, Al, Co, B, Li, Cd, Ba, Pb, Cr, Zn, Hg, Ni, Mn, Sb, and Sn) present in different types brewed of tea by using the ICP-OES (the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer) device, and the human health risks related to its use were evaluated. In this study, manganese (Mn) indicated the highest mean concentration in black (917.64 µg/kg) and green tea (912.89 µg/kg), respectively. Our study showed that the highest mean concentration of element boron (B) was (44.36 µg/kg) in Stachys lavandulifolia brewed tea. Among different packaging, tea bag samples had the highest concentration of Mn (1025.65 µg/kg) and aluminum (Al) (396.63 µg/kg). However, those unpacked posed the lowest content of Mn (188.13 µg/kg) and Al (100.47 µg/kg). The lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in all samples were lower than the maximum limit of the Iranian standard and the WHO. In general, the amount of tea metal in Iranian samples was higher than in imported samples. Also, increasing the brewing time (10 min) can be effective in the solubility and extraction of metals such as B, Hg, cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), and lithium (Li). Further, the correlation between the amount of metals and type in tea samples was evaluated with principal component analysis. Based on the conducted non-carcinogenic risk assessment by the Monte Carlo simulation, the hazard index (HI), due to ingestion of heavy metals via tea in the 5-min brewing of tea, was 7.39E - 03 and 2.09E - 03, and in the 10-min brewing of tea, it was 3.20E - 02 and 9.07E - 03 for children and adults, respectively. Therefore, there was no significant non-carcinogenic risk from tea consumption.