Table 3.
Toxic element contaminants in teas.
| TEAS | Steeped 3-4 minutes | Steeped 15–17 minutes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average μg/L | Hg | Pb | Al | As | Cd | Hg | Pb | Al | As | Cd |
| Organic green N = 10 |
None detected | 1.64 SD ± 0.58 MX 2.57 |
3897 SD ± 2027 MX 8324 |
0.31 SD ± 0.09 MX 0.44 |
0.021 SD ± 0.01 MX .036 |
None detected | 2.147 SD ± 0.58 MX 3.11 |
5210 SD ± 2360 MX 10100 |
0.39 SD ± 0.14 MX 0.68 |
0.031 SD ± 0.015 MX 0.068 |
|
| ||||||||||
| Regular green N = 7 |
None detected | 1.37 SD ± 0.47 MX 1.89 |
2342 SD ± 1401 MX 5635 |
0.43 SD ± 0.18 MX 0.62 |
0.012 SD ± 0.008 MX 0.027 |
None detected | 1.51 SD ± 0.55 MX 2.55 |
4798 SD ± 1970 MX 7417 |
0.4 SD ± 0.23 MX 0.82 |
0.02 SD ± 0.012 MX 0.044 |
|
| ||||||||||
| Organic oolong N = 2 |
None detected | 1.96 | 5624 MX 5939 |
0.60 | 0.01 | None detected | 2.26 MX 3.12 |
8808 MX 11449 |
0.885 | 0.014 |
|
| ||||||||||
| Standard oolong N = 2 |
None detected | 3.05 MX 4.13 |
4150 | 0.88 | 0.06 | None detected | 3.45 MX 4.93 |
2876 | 0.95 | 0.065 |
|
| ||||||||||
| Organic white N = 3 |
None detected | 1.14 MX 1.95 |
2875 | 0.45 | 0.02 | None detected | 1.32 | 4078 | 0.56 | 0.03 |
|
| ||||||||||
| Organic black N = 1 |
None detected | 0.78 | 5341 | 014 | None detected | None detected | 0.79 | 8096 | 0.23 | None detected |
|
| ||||||||||
| Standard black N = 5 |
None detected | 0.86 MX 1.03 |
4503 MX 8076 |
0.336 | 0.026 | None detected | 0.93 MX 1.33 |
5261.4 MX 8987 |
0.28 | 0.02 |
SD is standard of deviation. None detected is below the limit of detection or <0.005 ng/L and MX is maximum level detected.