Heavy metals in waste newspapers produce varying degrees of contamination concerns during food consumption, and when heavy metals levels exceed the permissible level, they become harmful to human. Different types of waste newspapers were analyzed for As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Al, and Zn by ICP-OES. The digestion solution included 10 ml of 69% nitric acid and 2 ml of 30% hydrogen peroxide. Based on the results for light fonts, the average content of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb was 2.8, 1.5, 6.9, 5.6, and 5.0 µg/l, while was 3.4 and 0.18 mg/l for Al, and Zn, respectively. In bold fonts, the content of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb was 4.9, 2.4, 9.1, 7.9, and 7.0 µg/l, respectively, while Al and Zn were 5.7 mg/l and 0.32 mg/l, respectively. In the pictures, the levels of As, Cd, Cr, Ni, and Pb were 6.1, 2.99, 11.2, 9.4, and 8.99 µg/l, while Al and Zn were 8.2 and 0.39 mg/l, respectively. The results showed that all levels of heavy metals under study were within the specialized global councils' permitted limits.
Keywords: ICP-OES; Trace metals; Waste newspapers.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.