Heavy Metal Content and Health Risk of Potato and Corn Chips Being Sold in Jordanian Market

This study was carried out to investigate the heavy metal contaminants (cadmium, lead, copper, zinc, manganese and iron) found in potato and corn chips being sold in Jordanian market, and to estimate their health risk on consumers. The reason behind this study was that potato and corn chips are widely consumed by most children over the world. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry was used to measure the levels of metals after wet digestion, then the dietary intake of each heavy metal was estimated based on means of chips intake by Jordanian children. Also, the level of risk found in this study was evaluated with respect to the value of Minimal Risk Level. From this study, the level of copper, zinc, iron and manganese were below the recommended tolerable levels proposed by Minimal Risk Level. In Contrast, there are some risks in some kinds of chips because they have high levels of cadmium and lead. The levels were compared with those reported for similar cases from some other parts of the world. Moreover, the study shows also that the domestic-made chips have lower concentration of heavy metals than those imported from other countries. In addition, the concentration of heavy metals in the chips available in the local markets increases as the price of these chips increases except for iron. In general, the levels of heavy metals in potato chips samples were higher than those in corn chips. The average concentration of heavy metals in potato chips was found as follows: 10.32, 2.25, 3.15, 6.57, 7.84 and 0.25 mg/Kg for Fe, Cu, Mn, Pb, Zn and Cd, respectively, whereas that in corn chips was 6.42, 0.54, 1.33, 6.79, 5.67 and 0.21 mg/Kg for iron, copper, manganese, lead, zinc and cadmium, respectively.