Journal of Rad~7oanalytieal and Nuclear Chemistry, Articles, VoL 162, No. 1 (1992) 111-123 DIETARY EVALUATION OF TOXIC'ELEMENTS THROUGH INTEGRATED DIET A. MANNAN, S. WAHEED, S. AHMAD, I. H. QURESHI Nuclear Chemistry Division, Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science w~d Technology, P.O. Nilore, lslamabad (Pakistan) (Received December 13, 1991) Several potentially toxic trace elements, namely, Hg, Pb, Cd, As, Sb, Br and Se have,been measured by INAA in combination with AAS techniques in the integrated diet representative of the inhabitants of Gujranwala, a highly industrialized city of Paklsian. The dietary intake values for these elements have been estimated from the prevailing concentration level in the summer and winter season diets, which reveals that present intake data are well within the reported WHO values and can be considered to be safe. Possible sources of food contamination by the toxic elements and their adverse impacts on human heaith are briefly discussed. Introduction Rapid establishment of diversified industries to provide various amenities of life are responsible for global indiscriminate pollution of biosphere and subsequent contamination of human food chain resources with harmful chemicals and toxic heavy metals. Being b~ologically undegradable and incom patible even at trace level with normal biochemical functions in human body, exposure of vital organs such as brain, nervous system, kidm:ys, liver, intestinal tract, lungs, etc., to these metals are likely to induce physiologi~l disorder in a number of ways.l,3 In order to get minimal adverse impact, it is important to measure and continuously monitor their levels in various environmental samples with particular emphasis on various food items. Food due to the introduction of mechanized farming, ever increasiog use of chemicals, sprays, preservatives, food processing, canning etc., are likely to bc further contaminated with the trace toxic elements. Gravity of this situation has attracted attention of national institutes in many countries and international organizations towards adopting measures for their effective control. Prior to any attempt on their control, it is necessary to define the safe levels in individual as well as intcgraled human foods and to estimate the dietary intake values. q'hcse object ivcs can be achieved by analyzing the trace elements in individual food item s or determining them in an integrated diet prepared from basic food items. This approach though time consuming, is helpful in identifying the extent of toxic elemental l:'lxevier Sequoia S. A., Lau.s'anne AkadJmiai Kia~h;, Bmhq~est I