ABSTRACT:

This study aims to assess heavy metals in dried fruit raisins because safety concerns arise when heavy metals from anthropogenic and geogenic sources enter the agricultural system through soil, water, and atmospheric deposition, bioaccumulate in food crops, and ultimately reach the human body through dietary ingestion. For this purpose, five varieties of raisins were purchased from the local markets in Quetta City, Pakistan, and transported to the laboratory for analysis of the three potentially toxic and three essential metals, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and arsenic (As), using advanced ICP-MS technology. Vitis vinifera L., commonly called raisins, is referred to in the local language as Black, Artavi, Munakka, Gardak, and Shond khani; these were dried, converted into a fine powder, and subjected to heavy-metal analysis. Results showed the mean concentration ranges of the elements Pb, Cd, Ni, Cu, Zn, and As in raisins were 0.1165-3.673ppm, 0.0080-0.1235ppm, 0.0077-0.0229ppm, 0.0333-0.1722ppm, 0.0989- 0.2623 ppm, and 0.0034- 0.0109 ppm, respectively. In all detected cases, Ni concentrations were below the detection limit in Black, Artavi, Munakka, and Seeds of  Munakka raisins. All metal concentrations were in the permissible range recommended by FAO/WHO except Pb, which was detected at a relatively higher concentration in all the analyzed raisins, which may be related to the presence of Pb in soil and atmosphere. The high concentration of lead highlights the importance of regular and scientific measurements by state regulatory authorities that may minimize heavy metal contamination and its transfer into food crops, including electrostatic precipitators, baghouse filters, biofilters, phytoremediation, nano-amendment, and biochar, followed by the latest machine-learning (ML) models for continued monitoring to ensure the quality and safety of dry fruits.

Keywords: raisins (Vitis vinifera L.), heavy metals, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

How to Cite this paper?

APA- Style
Ullah N., Rehman A., Ullah N., Ullah S., Khan G. M., (2026) ICP-MS Assessment of Heavy Metals in Several Varieties of Raisins (Vitis vinifera L.) from Quetta, Pakistan: Food Safety Implications Pakistan Journal of Chemistry, 16(4), 202-211. https://doi.org/10.15228/2026.v16.i4.p19.

ACS Style
N. Ullah, A. Rehman, N. Ullah, S. Ullah, G. M. Khan, ICP-MS Assessment of Heavy Metals in Several Varieties of Raisins (Vitis vinifera L.) from Quetta, Pakistan: Food Safety Implications Pakistan Journal of Chemistry, 16(4), 202-211. https://doi.org/10.15228/2026.v16.i4.p19.

AMA Style
N. Ullah; A. Rehman; N. Ullah; S. Ullah; G. M. Khan; ICP-MS Assessment of Heavy Metals in Several Varieties of Raisins (Vitis vinifera L.) from Quetta, Pakistan: Food Safety Implications Pakistan Journal of Chemistry, 16(4), 202-211. https://doi.org/10.15228/2026.v16.i4.p19.

Chicago/Turabian Style
N Ullah, A Rehman, N Ullah, S Ullah, G M Khan, ICP-MS Assessment of Heavy Metals in Several Varieties of Raisins (Vitis vinifera L.) from Quetta, Pakistan: Food Safety Implications Pakistan Journal of Chemistry, 16(4), 202-211. https://doi.org/10.15228/2026.v16.i4.p19.

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