HEAVY METALS IN POTATO CHIPS AND MANGO JUICE AVAILABLE IN DHAKA CITY

Abstract

This study determined the heavy metal contents of ten mango juice samples and ten potato chips samples. The samples were collected from the Dhanmondi and Mirpur area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Five mango Juice and five potato chips, total ten samples were collected from Dhanmondi and another five mango juice and five potato chips samples were collected from Mirpur. In order to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Cr & Pb) in 20 samples sold under different brand names and readily available in Dhaka, Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer, AAS-Analytik Jena 400P was utilized. Lead was present beyond safety limit in samples number 3 and 4 but in number 10, almost reached the safety limit, Sample number 11, which was mango juice collected from Dhanmondi, contained lead just below the safety limit and the values were respectively 0.11 mg/L, 0.17 mg/L and 0.09 mg/L. This result showed that in the case of lead, potato chips contained more lead than mango juice. Alternatively in potato chips, chromium was found in sample 3 collected from Dhanmondi crossed the safety limit. Meanwhile mango juice sample number 16 almost reached the safety limit and in number 17 also crossed the safe limit, both were collected from Mirpur area and values were subsequently 1.05 mg/L, 0.94 mg/L and 1.41 mg/L. The result showed that mango juice had more chromium than potato chips. However, no cadmium was found in the samples, all were below the detection limit. Lead, chromium, and cadmium can be harmful, especially for children. Therefore, the presence above the permitted limit is alarming. Mango juice and potato chips are highly well-liked snacks among young people, especially kids. However, the health risks shown in the study, discovered that the makers need to be more careful in removing this dangerous ingredient. Additionally, the guardian needs to be extra watchful. Consumers and food safety authorities can utilize these findings improve the quality these food products. For covid-19 situation, the research work was done with limited resources as the number of collected samples was less in number and also the number of targeted heavy metals was limited.