INSTITUTUL NAÅ¢IONAL DE CERCETARE-DEZVOLTARE - ICECHIM

3. Chemistry in medical and pharmaceutical applications - PDETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN TEAINFUSIONS BY ION CHROMATOGRAPHYIulian MINCA 1,2 , Ana Maria JOSCEANU 2 , Cornelia GURAN 2 , Mariana MATEESCU 1 ,BACALUM Fanica 1 , SARBU Liliana 11 National Research & Development Institute for Chemistry and Petrochemistry ICECHIM, Bucharest, Romania.2University Politehnica of Bucharest, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry andElectrochemistry, 1-5 Gheorghe Polizu Street, Sector 1, Bucharest, Romania.Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world [1]. Tea plays a major role interms of the intake of a number of nutritional trace elements in humans and can be beneficialto health or may have an adverse effect if present in large amounts [2]. The presence of traceelements in tea plant depends mainly on soil composition in which are grown, atmosphericagents and the degree of pollution is pollution.A ion chromatograph Dionex ICS 3000 system with UV detection by vis detection at530 nm and means of post column derivatisation with 2-(4-pyridylazo resorcinol), wasemployed for quantification of heavy metals content in black, white and green tea infusions,such as Cd 2+ , Ni 2+ , Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ and Co 2+ with minimum sample pre-treatment [3].Items that are in the ppm level in commercial tea bags: Cd is found in highconcentrations (2.36 and 8.16 ppm in black, white and green tea).On the other hand, the amounts of Zn, Cu, Co and Ni are much lower, as expected.Elements have a concentration range of ppb. The sum of these elements should be monitoredfor possible adverse effects on the body. The values for cations of Zn 2+ , Cu 2+ and Co 2+ insamples green, white and black tea are: 12.60 to 154.79 ppb, 34.50 to 104.12 ppb andrespectively 0 to 254.81 ppb. Also from experimental data resulted that values for cations ofNi 2+ are lower: 0 and 24.69 ppb. Elements such as Co are considered powerful and toxicpollutants, and are found in low concentrations. The reported heavy metals content iscomparable to previously reported results in literature [4].The proposed method has several advantages over other quality recommendedmonitoring methods: analysis is achieved in a shorter time, with good resolution, displayinghigher sensitivity, and lower detection limits.[1] Filiz Korkmaz Görür, Recep Keser, Nilay Akçay, Serdar Dizman, Nazmi Turan Okumus, Food Control 22(2011) 2065e2070 – Review.[2] Tanmoy K., R.M. Bhagat, Food Research International 43 (2010) 2234–2252- Review.[3] S. D. Kumar, G. Narayan, S. Hassarajani, Food Chemistry, 2008, 111, 784–788.[4] Fwu-Ming Shen, Hong-Wen Chen, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol (2008) 80:300–304.