Levels Of Essential And Toxic Metals In Commercial Powdered Infant Formulas

Samples of infant formulas were collected from different supermarkets. After preparationrnof samples, different digestion procedures were tested by varying reagent volumes,rndigestion time, temperature and amount of the sample to develop a procedure thatrnconsumes less regent volumes, short digestion time, low temperature of digestion andrnsmaller mass of the sample. The optimal procedure required 4:00 hours and consumed 3rnmL HNO3 and 2 mL HClO4 to completely digest 0.5 g of powdered infant formularnsamples. The accuracy of the optimized procedure was evaluated by analyzing the digestrnof the spiked samples with standard solution. Recoveries of the spiked samples variedrnfrom 91.33 % to 115.0 % for infant formula samples. Concentrations of essential andrntoxic metals in the samples were analyzed by flame atomic absorption spectrometerrn(FAAS) employing a four point external calibration curve. The observed average metalsrnconcentrations were (mean ± SD, μg/g and N = 9): Ca (2138.21 ± 13.35), Mg (274.70 ±rn4.55), Fe (62.72 ± 1.22), Zn (32.53 ± 2.35), Cu (2.73 ± 0.10), Mn (0.65 ± 0.02) in NAN;rnCa (2331.08 ± 20.67), Mg (310.58 ± 2.87), Fe (75.70 ± 2.55), Zn (42.98 ± 1.35), Cu (3.68rn± 0.30), Mn (0.84 ± 0.05) in S-26; Ca (2294.15 ± 19.85), Mg (295.24 ± 3.27), Fe (76.49rn± 1.77), Zn (42.21 ± 0.57), Cu (3.07 ± 0.27), Mn (1.01 ± 0.023) in Bebelac; Ca (2445.47rn± 24.49), Mg (298.35 ± 3.35), Fe (65.28 ± 4.09), Zn (39.41 ± 0.78), Cu (2.86 ± 0.15), Mnrn(0.56 ± 0.01) in Guigoz. This study showed that the metal contents of infant formulasrnvary with brands.rnxirnThe toxic metals (Pb and Cd) were not quantified in all brands of infant formulas, whichrnwere below the method detection limit.rnThe daily intakes of the essential metals were calculated by using the feeding tablesrnspecified by the manufacturers of the various brands. The results were compared withrnrecommended dietary allowances (RDA) and dietary reference intakes (DRI) for use inrnNorth America. The average daily intakes of most metals in powdered infant formulasrnwere comparable with the recommended values, but showed lower or higher than thernrecommended values for some metals. The levels of metals in infant formulas arerncomparable with that of the manufacturers and literature values.rnKey words: Infant formulas, Flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS), Essentialrnmetals, Toxic metals

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