Industrial Chemistry

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ASSESSMENT OF BROMATE AND HEAVY METAL LEVELS IN SELECTED BREAD SAMPLES MARKETED IN KEFFI, NASARAWA STATE
(Chemistry Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, 2019-11-01) Enoch, Ebijumoke Debby
Bread is a staple food in many countries around the world and it is usually prepared from flour and food additives; one of which is potassium bromate, which promotes its various properties such as appearance, texture, shape and size. This work investigated the levels of potassium bromate and heavy metals in ten different bread samples produced and marketed in Keffi-Nasarawa. Bromate was determined using a UV-Visible Spectrophotometer and heavy metals with an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results indicated that potassium bromate was present in all the samples with concentrations ranging from 2.82±0.375 - 24.3±0.525mg/kg which were higher than the WHO permissible limit of 0.02 mg/kg. The results of the heavy metals analysis also revealed that some bread samples contained high concentration of cadmium (cd), iron (fe), chromium (cr), and zinc (zn) while lead (pb), nickel (ni), copper (cu) were within the WHO permissible limits. The presence of bromate in all the bread sample use in this research shows that bakers seems not comply with the ban placed on the use of potassium bromate by NAFDAC, thus, bread consumers and bakers are at risk of exposure to potassium bromate and some heavy metal with health implications.