[Lead, cadmium and mercury carry-over to meat products by spices and condiments]

The lead and cadmium contents of 50 species and 19 condiments were investigated by means of flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Mercury contents were determined by cold vapor atomic absorption method including amalgamation. The mean concentrations of lead, cadmium, and mercury were 0.470 mg/kg, 0.080 mg/kg, and 0.005 mg/kg, respectively. By using the detected levels of these three heavy metals in model calculations only a small carry-over of lead, cadmium, and mercury in meat products by species and condiments can be assumed.