Chromium levels in spices and aromatic herbs

We determined the presence of chromium in a total of 72 samples of 17 diffe rent spices and aromatic herbs. Electrothermal atomization atomic absorptio n spectrometry (ETA-AAS) was used to determine Cr content in the samples mi neralized with HNO3 and V2O5. The analytical characteristics Of the propose d method were tested, and the accuracy and precision was also verified agai nst an NBS-certified reference material. Chromium concentrations ranged fro m not detectable to 1.42 mu g/g (dry wt.) and Cr presence was detected in 9 5% of samples. Spices and aromatic herbs are widely consumed in the Spanish diet and in the Mediterranean diet, in general. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.