SIMULTANEOUS MULTIELEMENTAL ANALYSIS OF DAILY FOOD SAMPLES BY INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY

Several toxic elements in total composite food samples of hospital diets were determined simultaneously by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Trace element concentrations of Be, Cr, As, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ce, Hg and Pb changed widely ranging from a few ng.g-1 to less than 3 mug.g-1 in all 24 samples collected through a year. Be, Sn, and Hg were not detected in rice sample alone, and other trace elements, with the exception of Cr and As, were less than approximately 50% levels, as compared with mixed diet samples. The daily intakes of these toxic elements were in the ranges of a few to several hundreds of micrograms.