Table 3.
(A) Lithium (Li) concentrations in different beverage categories. Li content was analysed in wine (n = 39) and beer (n = 42), soft and energy drinks (n = 39) as well as tea (n = 20), coffee (n = 20). The average Li content of mineral water (=108 µg/L) was set as a reference value. Li concentrations were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
| Beverage Categories | N | Min Li (µg/L) | Max Li (µg/Li) | Median Li (µg/L) | Mean Li (µg Li/L ± SEM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral Water * | 381 | 0.6 | 1723.8 | 31.4 | 107.6 ± 11.53 a |
| Wine | 39 | 2.0 | 48.1 | 6.0 | 11.6 ± 1.97 b |
| Beer | 42 | 1.9 | 19.9 | 8.3 | 8.5 ± 0.77 b |
| Soft/Energy Drinks | 39 | 0.5 | 104.8 | 3.9 | 10.2 ± 2.95 b |
| Tea | 20 | 0.3 | 9.9 | 1.4 | 2.8 ± 0.65 c |
| Coffee | 20 | < 0.003 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 ± 0.02 d |
* Reference value, according to Seidel et al. (2019) [17]. Different letters indicate significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) in mean Li concentrations between the tested beverage categories.