Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in cereal-based foods: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The current meta-analysis study was aimed to estimate the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination in cereal grains and their products such as wheat, rice, corn, maize, barley, oat, peas, soybean, cornflakes, and breakfast. Scope and approach: The recommended databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases, were investigated to collect data regarding the PTEs contamination in cereal-based products from 1 January 1983 to 30 May 2019. Key findings and conclusions: Among 1401 retrieved citations in the identification step, 45 articles were included in the conducted meta-analysis. In this context, the overall rank order of PTEs mean concentration in the cereal foods was Fe > Zn > Mn > Cu > Ni > Cr > Cd > As > Pb > Sn > Hg. The results of the current study showed that processing has a strong effect on the reduction of PTEs except in the case of Zn and Sn. The concentration of Cu, Cd, Pb, Fe, Hg and Mn in wheat was higher than corn and rice. The amount of Zn and As in rice was greater than wheat and corn while the concentration of Ni and Cr in corn was higher than wheat and rice. The findings of this meta-analysis may be useful for the building of risk assessment models aiming to derive data for the development of specific actions to reduce exposure to PTEs through the consumption of the cereal-based products.