Human exposure to trace elements through diet

During the past several years, we have collected more than 50 total diet samples from different socioeconomic groups in Turkey by the duplicate-portion technique. The samples were homogenized with a titanium-blade homogenizer, freeze-dried, and analyzed for their minor and trace elements by atomic absorption spectrometry and by instrumental neutron activation analysis. As a result we have determined concentrations of more than 25 elements in total diet and calculated daily dietary intakes of these population groups. Sources of trace elements were estimated through correlation coefficient and enrichment factor calculations.