3.3. Heavy element content
Beside doubtless benefits regarding the nutritional quality, the analysed ingredients contributed to elevated contents of heavy elements (Pb, Cd, As, and Hg) in the supplemented cookies (Table 2). The addition of hull-less barley flour contributed to a significant increase of Pb content in comparison to the corresponding controls, whereas the sunflower seed also increased the Pb content, but to an insignificant extent. The content of Cd increased in the supplemented cookies but a significant rise was observed in the case of white and wholegrain cookies supplemented at higher levels by sunflower seed and barley flour, as compared to the corresponding control samples. Content of Hg tended to be lower in cookies supplemented with a higher level of hull-less barley flour, and significant differences (in comparison with the corresponding controls) were observed. Significant variation in the Hg content was not found between the control samples and the cookies supplemented with lower levels of sunflower seed (refined and wholegrain). The addition of 30 g/100 g of sunflower seed increased the content of As about 6 times in the case of white supplemented cookies, whereas it was almost sevenfold in the case of addition 50 g/100 g of hull-less barley flour. Therefore, the contribution of cookies to the exposure of each heavy element was evaluated.
Table 4 shows how a 100 g serving of cookies contributes to the dietary intakes of the heavy elements, compared with the provisional tolerable daily intakes (PTDIs), derived from the corresponding PTWIs, as previously described.