Evaluation of the Risk Non-Carcinogenicity of Heavy Metals in Traditional Foods Prepared in Restaurants of Isfahan, Iran

The intake of heavy metals from food in high doses will have adverse effects on human health. In Iran, traditional foods constitute a major portion of peoples’ daily diet. Hence, the present study has attempted to evaluate the levels of heavy metals and their carcinogenicity and non-carcinogenicity in traditional foods served in the restaurants of Isfahan, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 20 different types of food were selected from 19 restaurants. Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) was used to measure the levels of heavy metals such as chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe) in the prepared samples. Moreover, the risk non-carcinogenicity of heavy metals in traditional foods was determined for children and adults by applying the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) method. Among the heavy metals studied, only Ni and Cu had lower levels than permissible limits. Also, the Pb levels in the examined foods range from 0.05 to 0.79 m m-1; which are higher than the safe limits proposed by FAO/WHO. On the other hand, the mean concentration of Fe was higher than the maximum permissible limit (48 m m-1) in 4 food samples only. The target hazard quotient (THQ) values range from 0.005–53.65 and 0.01–156.50, for adults and children, respectively.  Hence THQ for adults and children was found to be above 1 in 64% and 75% of food samples, respectively. This study recommends that food consumers in Iran should be careful about the overconsumption of traditional foods.