To examine the overall metal concentrations in spice samples analyzed, the metal pollution index (MPI) was calculated. This index was obtained by calculating the geometrical mean of concentrations of all the metals in the samples with equation:MPI=(cf1*cf2..cfn)1/n where Cfn= concentration of the metal n in the sample (35).
In our stdy, metal pollution index ranged from 0.47 to 1.35, in particular,sample no. 20, which contained 5F-PB22 showed the highest value of MPI(1.35)followed by sample no.24(1.24)and sample no.21(1.12).These values reveal a negligible contamination of the considered samples.(See Fig.3.)