Potential health risk of selected metals for Polish consumers of oolong tea from the Fujian Province, China

The influence of environmental pollution on the heavy metal content in oolong teas from the Fujian Province, China, and the health risk for the Polish consumers were studied. Average contents of the metals in made oolong tea leaves were (mgkg(-1)): Al 1452, Cd 0.08, Co 0.23, Cr 1.59, Cu 10.5, Fe 140, Hg 0.10, Mn 1465, Mo 0.63, Ni 3.45, Pb 1.99, Sb 0.78, Se 5.15, Sn 3.16, Tl 0.28, and Zn 26.9. The metals easily released from leaves to infusions were: Tl, Se, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ni, Al, and Pb. No concentration of As, Hg, Mo, or Pb was found in the first infusion and no As, Co, Hg, or Mo was found in the second one. The hazard quotient values for particular metals found in the infusions and tea leaves and the appraised combined hazard index (HI) amounted to <1. The highest HI values, resulting from the consumption of both infusions, did not exceed 5.88E-03, or 6.94E-04a in the case of tea leaves. No health hazard for the Polish consumers of oolong teas was identified at any of the examined stages of consumption. However, we recommend discarding the first tea infusion to reduce the metal concentrations before consumption.