Assessment of Potential Carcinogenic Metals in Palm Wines of Northern Cross River State, Nigeria

Palm wine samples collected from five major areas in Northern Cross River State, South-south Nigeria were assessed in triplicates for their contents of five carcinogenic metals including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), Ni (Ni) and lead (Pb) using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following a 2:5 HNO3/H2O2 mixture digestion according to standard procedure. The study was repeated in three consecutive years and in each case, the results were compared with WHO acceptable limits of the metals in drinks. The results revealed that As, Cd, Ni and Pb mean contents were significantly above WHO recommended limits at α (0.0 5) and υ (14) in the samples within the three years period of the study. Hg was not detected in 2015 and was found to be slightly above the allowable limit estimated to be statistically insignificant in all the wine samples at α (0.0 5) and υ (14). The observed orders of concentrations of each potential metal carcinogen within the three years were established. Poor packaging and handling of palm wine may be a major potential route to toxic metal poisoning in Northern Cross River State as observed by this study.