Background: Due to the adverse effects of lead on human health, especially children, and high consumption of fruit juice in our population, this study was done to determine Lead concentration in the high-consumed commercial fruit juices marketed in Kerman (southeast of Iran).
Methods: In a field study on fruit juices marketed in Kerman city, high-consumed fruit juices were determined. Three samples of each available brand for the selected high-consumed fruit juices were selected for analysis (a total of 123 samples). Wet acid digestion method with nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide were used for digestion of the samples. Lead concentration in digested samples was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.
Results: Minimum and maximum lead concentrations were respectively 0.01417 and 0.0834 in grape juice, 0.0125 and 0.0269 in apple juice, 0.0071 and 0.0382 in peach juice and 0.0345 and 0.124 mg/L in orange juice. The highest lead concentration was found in orange juice samples.
Conclusions: Lead concentration in all samples of fruit juices marketed in Kerman was lower than the recommended standard by World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
