Heavy metal contamination of freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) and prawn feed in Bangladesh: A market-based study to highlight probable health risks.

An assessment of the dietary risk of heavy metal exposure to humans is important since it is the main source of exposure. This study aimed to estimate the degree of contamination and assess the probable health risk in the prawn food chain. In prawn feed, the concentrations of metals were detected in the following order: Hg > Co > Pb > Cd. The concentrations of heavy metals in prawn were the highest for Co and lowest for Cd. Trace amounts of As and Cr were detected in the analyzed sample. Target hazard quotients for heavy metals for adults were >1 for Pb, Cd, Hg, and Co, and for children, the same were high for Co and Hg, indicating significant health risks upon dietary exposure. All the prawn samples contained nine-fold and fourteen-fold higher concentrations than the maximum acceptable levels for Pb and Hg, respectively (0.5 mg kg-1; WHO/FAO). Human health risk due to the Co exposure is quite alarming as the level of exposure was found to be very high. In the prawn samples intended for human consumption, the hazard index (HI) was highest in the samples obtained from Bagerhat (3.25 in flesh and 3.26 in skin), followed by the samples obtained from Satkhira (2.84 in flesh and 3.10 in skin) and Dhaka City Corporation (2.81 in flesh and 3.42 in Skin); this indicates a potential risk of prawn consumption obtained from Southeast Bangladesh. This is particularly problematic as this area accounts for the majority of prawn production and export of the country.

Caffeine and total polyphenol contents of market tea cultivated and processed in Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the contents of caffeine and total polyphenol in six brands of market tea cultivated and processed in Bangladesh. METHODS: Caffeine and polyphenol contents were determined by solvent extraction (AACC) and the International Organisation for Standardisation Method (ISO) 14502-1 respectively. RESULTS: Caffeine contents of the different tea samples ranged between 0.99 +/- 0.17% to 2.08 +/- 0.16% (g/100g materials), while that of total polyphenol was from 36.90 +/- 1.39% to 17.29 +/- 2.30% of gallic acid equivalents (GAE). The order of caffeine concentration in tea samples was found as follows: Organic Black Tea > Taaza Tea > Organic Green Tea > Magnolia Tea > Organic Zinger Tea > Organic Tulsi Tea. The polyphenol concentration in the tea samples was highest in Organic Green Tea followed by Taaza Tea and the rest as follows: Magnolia Tea > Organic Black Tea > Organic Zinger Tea > Organic Tulsi Tea. An indicative difference in amounts of caffeine and polyphenols for different tea brand samples is seen in this study. CONCLUSION: This systematic screening provides information to producers as well as consumers on the quantities of caffeine and polyphenols in commercial tea available in the markets of Bangladesh.

Non-cereal food consumption, food insecurity and nutritional status of children and mothers: a case study in Bangladesh.

AIM: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of food insecurity derived from non-cereal food consumption on nutritional status of children and mothers in a poverty-prone region in Bangladesh. METHODS: Data from the Bangladesh Nutritional Surveillance Project, 2005 of Helen Keller International were used to relate non-cereal food consumption and household food insecurity to nutritional status of children and their mothers. Multiple regressions were used to determine the association between the nutritional outcomes and the explanatory variables. In the case of binary and multi-level outcomes, logistic regressions were used as well. RESULTS: Non-cereal dietary diversity was found to have little predictive power on BMI and MUAC of mothers and on the nutritional status of the children. Maternal education is strongly associated with mothers' and children's nutritional status. CONCLUSION: Dietary diversity based on non-cereal food consumption can be a useful tool to investigate the nutritional status of poor households, but more studies are needed to verify these findings.