Results and discussion
The data on heavy metal concentrations in the analyzed
fruit drinks is reported in Table 4. Due to confidentiality
reasons, detailed information about the exact brand
names of the analyzed drink samples is not disclosed
in this study. Out of the 23 samples analyzed, 17.4 %
had all the six heavy metals analyzed, 30 % had five of
the metals analyzed, and 26.1 % had four of the heavy
metals analyzed, while 26 % had three of the heavy
metals. The Student t test showed mostly positive correlations
between the samples and the concentrations of
elements at 95 % confidence level. Among the heavy
metals determined in all the samples, the levels of the
toxic metals, lead, and cadmium were generally low,
beingmuch less than or just about 0.3 mg/L in almost all
samples. Iron levels, on the other hand, were higher than
the corresponding levels of lead, cadmium, cobalt, zinc,
and copper in all the samples. The average concentration of iron in the samples was 0.723 mg/L, about 23 times
the least average concentration which was recorded for
cadmium (i.e., 0.032 mg/L).