Lead contamination of raisins sold in Canada

Graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometric analysis of raisins imported in 1993-95 from different countries into Canada showed that raisins from Turkey had unusually high lead levels. The Turkish raisins (n = 18) contained a mean (range) of 0.93 (0.056-3.1) mg kg(-1) lead, whereas five samples from Australia, South Africa, Iran, Mexico and Chile contained a mean of 0.0085 (0.005-0.010) mg kg(-1). Acid-washing studies showed that most of the lead in the Turkish raisins was on the surface of the fruit. The impact of eating the raisins on the dietary intake of lead was estimated for Canadians of different ages and sexes. For example, eating raisins from Turkey would increase the dietary intake of lead by 1-4-year-old children from 0.97 to similar to2.2 mug kg(-1) body weight day(-1). The source of the lead was traced to use of a copper fungicide contaminated with high lead levels. Currently, lead levels in raisins imported from Turkey are low and approach levels in raisins from other countries. Uncontaminated raisins contain similar to0.01 mg lead kg(-1), and a maximum tolerance for lead in raisins of 0.1 mg kg(-1) is achievable irrespective of the type of raisin or country of origin. Therefore, consideration should be given to proposing this level as a maximum tolerance for lead in raisins.