Extractability of carcinogenic toxins in brewed beverages (tea) a study by hyphenated plasma mass spectrometry

  • Authors

    • Avin Pillay Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE
    • Sasi Stephen Khalifa University
    • Johnson Manuel
    2019-07-31
    https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.20624
  • Plasma Mass Spectrometry, Tea, Carcinogens, ICP-MS, Sustainability.

  • Beryllium (Be) and arsenic (As) are noted for their potential carcinogenicity, and their elemental distribution in brewed teas was the subject of investigation. A study of this nature, where carcinogens are extracted by boiling, is underexplored. The study focused on brewed beverages and the experimentally determined concentrations were thus compared with drinking water levels. Tea is a favourite drink, is consumed several times a day and toxins could bio-accumulate in the body. Appreciable concentrations of carcinogens could therefore, affect the human body and restorative measures could be adopted to minimize such toxins in tea leaves. Eight brands of tea samples were procured and investigated for carcinogens after brewing in ultrapure Millipore water. Hyphenated plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was deployed to probe the levels of the elements of interest. The operation of the instrument was certified with reference standards. Aberrations in performance were reset by use of an internal standard. Beryllium levels occurred in the range 0.5-1.5 μg/L; As concentrations were between 1-3 μg/L. The distribution of the selected elements is discussed. These carcinogens could emerge from the ground and from the agricultural water used to cultivate the tea leaves, or alternatively, from the manufacturing processes associated with their production. It could be feasible to deploy the data to identify or “fingerprint†the country or region of origin of the corresponding tea sample. This study could definitely be considered a source of reference data, and could add to the growing knowledge on sustainable development.

     

     

     


  • References

    1. [1] M. Zhang and L. Fang, "Tea Plantation–Induced Activation of Soil Heavy Metals," Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, Vol. 38, No. 11-12, (2007), pp. 1467-1478. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103620701378417.

      [2] M. Zhang, C. Zhou, and C. Huang, "Relationship Between Extractable Metals in Acid Soils and Metals Taken Up by Tea Plants," Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, Vol. 37, No. 3-4, (2006), pp. 347-361. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103620500440095.

      [3] "S.I. No. 122/2014 - European Union (Drinking Water) Regulations 2014," Govt. Publications, 52 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Dublin 978-1-4468-1806-0, 2014.

      [4] Z.-l. Xie, D.-m. Dong, G.-z. Bao, S.-t. Wang, Y.-g. Du, and L.-m. Qiu, "Aluminum content of tea leaves and factors affecting the uptake of aluminum from soil into tea leaves," Chinese Geographical Science, Vol. 11, No. 1, (2001), pp. 87-91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-001-0013-5.

      [5] U. Gießmann and U. Greb, "High resolution ICP-MS—a new concept for elemental mass spectrometry," Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 350, No. 4-5, (1994), pp. 186-193. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00322469.

      [6] G. A. Jenner, H. P. Longerich, S. E. Jackson, and B. J. Fryer, "ICP-MS — A powerful tool for high-precision trace-element analysis in Earth sciences: Evidence from analysis of selected U.S.G.S. reference samples," Chemical Geology, Vol. 83, No. 1-2, (1990), pp. 133-148. https://doi.org/10.1016/0009-2541(90)90145-W.

      [7] A. Pillay and M. Peisach, "Charge-induced X-ray yields from some metal salts with proton and alpha beams," Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry, Vol. 188, No. 6, (1994), pp. 453-462. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02164738.

      [8] M. Peisach, C. Pineda, and A. Pillay, "PIXE yield enhancement of metal fluorides under bombardment with charged particles," Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry, Vol. 178, No. 2, (1994), pp. 387-397. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02039732.

      [9] R. Abbu, A. Pillay, and K. Moodley, "The use of ICP-AES and anodic stripping voltammetry (ASV) to determine the levels of cadmium and lead in river water samples from Kwa Zulu-Natal (KZ-N), South Africa," Journal of trace and microprobe techniques, Vol. 18, No. 1, (2000), pp. 83-97.

      [10] A. Pillay and M. Peisach, "Some studies on nuclear methods for boron determination," Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 66, No. 1-2, (1992), pp. 226-229. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(92)96155-R.

      [11] S. M. Al-Kindy, Z. Al-Harasi, F. E. O. Suliman, A. Al-Hamadi, and A. Pillay, "Terbium sensitized luminescence for the determination of ketoprofen in pharmaceutical formulations," Journal of fluorescence, Vol. 19, No. 2, (2009), pp. 249-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10895-008-0410-6.

      [12] M. Peisach, C. Pineda, A. Pillay, and K. Springhorn, "Time variation of abnormal PIXE yields from some insulating binary metal fluorides under proton bombardment," Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, Vol. 94, No. 4, (1994), pp. 540-544. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-583X(94)95434-8.

      [13] A. Pillay, J. Williams, M. El Mardi, S. Hassan, and A. Al-Hamdi, "Boron and the alternate-bearing phenomenon in the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera)," Journal of arid environments, Vol. 62, No. 2, (2005), pp. 199-207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2004.11.007.

      [14] F. M. Salih, A. E. Pillay, and K. Jayasekara, "Levels of radium in oily sludge," International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 85, No. 2, (2005), pp. 141-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/03067310512331324763.

      [15] M. Elkadi, A. E. Pillay, J. Manuel, S. Stephen, and M. Z. Khan, "Kinetic Study of Neem Biodiesel Production," British Biotechnology Journal, Vol. 3, No. 4, (2013), pp. 500-508. https://doi.org/10.9734/BBJ/2013/4434.

      [16] A. E. Pillay, M. Elkadi, and S. Stephen, "Application of a Hyphenated Facility for Simultaneous Speciation Studies of Toxic Oxidation States [Cr3+/ Cr6+] and [As3+/ As5+] in Produced Water from Crude Oil," Candian Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences, Vol. 8, No. 2, (2014), pp. 2807-2812.

      [17] M. Elkadi, A. Pillay, J. Manuel, M. Zubair Khan, S. Stephen, and A. Molki, "Sustainability Study on Heavy Metal Uptake in Neem Biodiesel Using Selective Catalytic Preparation and Hyphenated Mass Spectrometry," Sustainability, Vol. 2014, No. 6, (2014), pp. 2413-2423. https://doi.org/10.3390/su6052413.

      [18] M. Elkadi, A. Pillay, S. C. Fok, F. Feghali, G. Bassioni, and S. Stephen, "Depth Profiling (ICP-MS) Study of Toxic Metal Buildup in Concrete Matrices: Potential Environmental Impact," Sustainability, Vol. 2, (2010), pp. 3258-3269. https://doi.org/10.3390/su2103258.

      [19] A. Pillay, M. Elkadi, F. Feghali, S. C. Fok, G. Bassioni, and S. Stephen, "Tracking chloride and metal diffusion in proofed and unproofed concrete matrices using ablative laser technology (ICP-MS)," Natural Science, Vol. Vol.2, No. No.8, (2010), pp. 809-816. https://doi.org/10.4236/ns.2010.28102.

      J. G. Robinson, "The Limits to Caring: Sustainable Living and the Loss of Biodiversity," Conservation Biology, Vol. 7, No. 1, (1993), pp. 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1993.07010020.x

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Pillay, A., Stephen, S., & Manuel, J. (2019). Extractability of carcinogenic toxins in brewed beverages (tea) a study by hyphenated plasma mass spectrometry. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 8(2), 77-81. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.20624