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Comparison and Risk Assessment for Trace Heavy Metals in Raw Pu-erh Tea with Different Storage Years

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Abstract

This research conducted an exploration of the content of microelements (As, Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Hg) in raw Pu-erh tea with different storage years. The contents of As, Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Hg were 0.14, 0.82, 0.02, 0.52, 14.59, 33.51, 564.02, and 0.01 μg/g, respectively, and were all less than the national standard limit values in China. The target hazard quotients (THQs) of each heavy metal were all lower than 1, and the value of combined risk hazard index (HI) of all to adults was 0.221, which presents no health risk when consumed properly by adults of the raw Pu-erh tea infusions. Interestingly, there was no significant correlation between the heavy metal element (As, Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Hg) contents and the THQ values of raw Pu-erh tea samples and storage years; the correlation coefficients (R2) range from 0.01 to 0.33 and from 0.01 to 0.57, respectively. The result showed that the storage years showed no effect on the exposure risk of heavy metals; the heavy metal elements in tea samples come from the atmosphere and soil.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very thankful to the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, for the use of their laboratory facilities for this research.

Funding

This work was supported by the Project of Innovation and Application of plant germplasm Foundation of China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Tea (Pu’er), West Yunnan University of Applied Sciences, Pu’er, 665000, China

    Fen Li, Mei Li, Xuemei Yang, Changyun Xiong & Bin Yang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002, China

    Qinhui Lu

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  1. Fen Li
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  3. Mei Li
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Correspondence to Bin Yang.

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Li, F., Lu, Q., Li, M. et al. Comparison and Risk Assessment for Trace Heavy Metals in Raw Pu-erh Tea with Different Storage Years. Biol Trace Elem Res 195, 696–706 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01886-1

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