Local exposure to dietary lead and cadmium has a low health impact, according to a report released today by the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department’s Centre for Food Safety.

Findings in the fifth report released under the Second Hong Kong Total Diet Study state that local dietary exposure estimates for cadmium are below the tolerable monthly intake established by the Joint Food & Agriculture Organization / World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), while those for lead are also below the dietary exposure levels identified by JECFA.

Moreover, estimates of dietary exposure among the overall adult population to both metals are lower than those reported in the First Hong Kong Total Diet Study, which was conducted between 2010 and 2014.

Out of a total of 187 tested food items, covering 15 food groups, 125 were detected with cadmium, while lead was detected in 176. The three major food groups, namely “cereals and their products”, “vegetables and their products” and “fish, seafood and their products”, accounted for about 80% of the total dietary exposure to cadmium and about 50% of the total dietary exposure to lead.

Cadmium and lead, as metallic elements present ubiquitously in the environment, can be released through various natural processes or human activities, and subsequently enter the human food chain.

In addition to maintaining a balanced and varied diet, people are advised to wash vegetables and fruit thoroughly to remove dust and soil, remove outer leaves from leafy greens and peel the skin from root crops, in order to reduce levels of cadmium and lead.