Investigation of cadmium contamination in wheat flour and assessment on dietary exposure in Shandong Province

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study was designed to investigate cadmium （Cd） pollution levels in wheat and wheat flour in different cities of Shandong Province， as well as conduct preliminary health risk assessment of Cd intake via wheat flour.Methods1 789 samples of wheat or wheat flour were collected from farmers’ markets， supermarkets， and farmers in 16 cities of Shandong Province. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry （ICP-MS） was performed to determine the Cd content in wheat. Based on the data of residents’ wheat flour consumption， the risk of Cd exposure of residents through wheat flour was estimated.ResultsThe Cd level of wheat was higher than that of wheat flour （Z=-12.50，P<0.001）， and there were differences among cities in Cd levels in both wheat and wheat flours. The estimated monthly intake （EMI） of the average consumer group in Shandong Province was 1.18 μg/kg·BW， accounting for 4.72% of the provisional tolerable monthly intake （PTMI）. The EMI of the high-consumption population of wheat flour was 2.87 μg/kg·BW， accounting for 11.47% of the PTMI.ConclusionThe exposure risk of dietary Cd from wheat flour in the average consumer population of Shandong Province is low； however， further attention should be paid to the exposure risk to dietary Cd in high wheat-flour consumers in cities with relatively high Cd content.

Keywords

• cadmium
• wheat
• wheat flour
• exposure assessment