American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) 2015 American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) e-ISSN: 2320-0847 p-ISSN : 2320-0936 Volume-4, Issue-12, pp-64-66 www.ajer.org Research Paper Open Access www.ajer.org Page 64 Determination of Heavy Metals in Fruit Spices EZIGBO, VERONICA OBIAGELI Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry Anambra State University Uli, Nigeria ABSTRACT: The concentrations of some heavy metals such as lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co0 and Selenium (Se) present in common fruit spices available at local markets in Nigeria were determined using Atomir Absorption Sprectrophotometry (AAS). The study showed differences in metal concentrations according to the locations. The concentration of lead (Pb) ranged from trace to 12-30 mgkg -1 on dry weigh basis where as that of cadmium (Cd) was ranged from 1.20 mgkg -1 to 3.00 mgkg -1 .The concentration level of cobalt was from zero to 0.60 mgkg -1 . While variable levels of selenium were detected from zero to 12.05 mgkg -1 . Some of these concentrations are above the standard limit approved by WHO and FAO. No risk from daily intake of the most of fruit spices under study for hazardous Pb, Cd, Co and Se if the human take about 20g of spices per day. But there are dangerous from thyme and ginger for lead. Key words: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Cadmium, Cobalt, Heavy metals, Lead, Selenium . I. INTRODUCTION Spices are dried parts of plants, which have been used as diet components often to improve color, aroma, palatability and acceptability of food. They consist of rhizomes, barks, leaves, fruits, seeds, and other parts of plant [1] Most of these are fragrant, aromatic and pungent. The bulk of the dry material of spices contains carbohydrates, and organic compounds having diverse functional groups. The addition of spices that may be contaminated with trace and heavy metals to food as a habit may result in accumulation of these metals in human organs and lead to different health troubles. The wide spread of contamination with heavy metals in the last decades has raised public and scientific interest due to their dangerous effect on human health [2] This has led researchers allover the world to study the pollution with heavy metals in air, water and foods to avoid their harmful effect [3] and to determine their permissibility for human consumption. Heavy metals are those with atomic weights from 63.546 to 200.590 [4] and specific weight higher than 4 (Connell et al; 1992). These metals may reach and contaminate plants, vegetables, fruits and canned foods through air, water, and soil during cultivation [5], [6], [7] and also during industrial processing and packaging [8] Thus several studies were done to determine the concentration of heavy metals in spices, dry fruits and plant must[1],[2],[5] and to study their dangerous effects. Subjecting to trace and heavy metals above the permissible affect the human health and may result in illness to human fetus, abortion and preterm labor, and mental retardation to children. Adults also may experience high blood pressure, fatigue and kidney and brain troubles (FAO 1984). Our country Nigeria cultivate spices among a lot of food stuff from. These spices may be subjected to contamination by way or more as described above. We are not aware of published data or results about the contamination and concentration of trace and heavy metals in spices available in the local markets of Ihiala except that of [9] and[10] , which were done for a very few kinds of spices. The objective of this work is to estimate the levels of some heavy metals (lead, cadmium, cobalt, and selenium that may be present in spices available in local markets in Ihiala town. Also, the levels of investigated metals were recommended by the international Organization FAO and WHO). II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Spices samples were collected from local markets, recognized and classified according to their English name, Scientific name (Table 1). Sample origin is not specified. SAMPLE PREPARATION Samples were cleaned and oven-dried at 80 o C for approximately 12 hours before chemical analysis. The dried samples were ground in a wooden morta till obtaining fine particles that pass through a 0.5mm mesh and kept dry for analysis.