The Benefits and Risks of Consuming Brewed Tea: Beware of Toxic Element Contamination

Table 2

Established toxicant limits in supplements (µgm/day) adapted from [51].

Toxic element	US California Proposition  65 (P65) and Environmental Protection Agency	European union	Australia	World Health Organization	Gestational limits
Mercury (Hg)	2	4.2	2.4 inorganic Hg; 0.96 methyl Hg	1.37 (methyl Hg in children)	0.6 for methyl Hg
Lead	15	21	NE	21	Concern at low levels. 0.5 established for reproductive toxicity (P65)
Cadmium	4.1	6	15	6	NE
Arsenic	10	13.0	NE	12.85	NE
Aluminum	7,000	4,286	12,000	NE	NE

NE: not established.
European/WHO/Australian levels were established by convention as representing 10% of the daily total toxicant intake after conversion of values expressed in mg/kg/week for an average adult weight of 60 kg.