Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu Intake by Consuming Herbal Tea Thyme

Abstract

One of the most important public- health tasks is to provide hygienic and healthy food and water, which will not have harmful consequences for the health of consumers, and in this way a safe food trade is ensured, therefore protecting everyone in the chain from the producer to the consumer. This paper presents the concentrations of heavy metals Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu, obtained by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), from 5 samples of thyme infusion (lat. Thymus serpyllum), which can be found on the market of Travnik. Sample infusions were prepared by holding the filter bags in boiling deionized water for 10 minutes. Mean values of concentrations of these heavy metals were for Fe 0.0508 ± 0.0139 mg/kg, Mn 0.06 ± 0.0069 mg/kg, Zn 0.0436 ± 0.0147 mg/kg, while the Cu content was not detected in any infusion of the said tea. The risk assessment of the intake of tested heavy metals for the health of consumers, expressed through the Hazard Index (HI), which was <1, shows that the samples of analyzed teas are safe for consumption.