Our study's objective is to evaluate the potential health effects of elemental impurities (Ag, Au, Co, Cr, Cs, Li, Mo, Se, and Sr) found in green tea infusions (Camellia sinensis (L.)). The ICP-MS-based methodology was employed for elemental analysis and a detailed health risk evaluation based on weekly consumption (μg/L of infusion/week). The provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI), established by the Joint FAO Expert Committee on infusion/week/month based on existing literature data, was then compared to the subjects with data from the available literature. The exposure of the study items to Co ranged from 0.07904 to 0.85421 μg/day. On the contrary, the ICH (International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use) guidelines state that the established permitted daily exposure PDE (oral exposure) for Co is 50 μg/day. The PDE of lithium is around 560 μg/day, and according to our study, the estimated daily exposure of the evaluated products to Li fell between 0.0185 and 0.7170 μg/day. Our research also revealed modest concentrations of Cs (0.399-2.654 μg/L), Mo (0.0113-0.107 μg/L), and Sr (9.848-22.331 μg/L) in infusions. The recognized PDE for molybdenum is approximately 3400 μg/day. Only two samples contained silver, and when considering daily consumption, the predicted daily exposure to Ag is between 4.4994 and 0.03122 μg/day. The amounts of all evaluated elements in a daily dose of green tea infusions should not harm the consumer's health. Further considerations should take aspects, such as constant change and environmental pollution, into account.
Keywords: ICP-MS; elemental profile; green tea; health risk assessment; novel impurities; tea infusions.