Anthraquinone in Chinese tea: concentration and health risk assessment

Figures & data

Figure 1. Consumption of different types of tea in the Chinese population.

Note: N means the number of tea consumers; Mean: mean daily tea consumption; P95: 95th percentile daily tea consumption. Each consumer may have consumed more than one type of tea, so the total N value of these five types of tea is more than 1015.

Table 1. Analysis of the concentration levels of AQ in different types of tea.

Types of tea	Number of samples	Detection rate (%)	Over-standard rate (%)	Concentration of AQ (mg/kg)
				Mean	Max	Median	P95
White tea	9	22.22	22.22	0.0467	0.3480	0.0050	0.2236
Dark tea	141	75.18	57.45	0.0292	0.0840	0.0300	0.0701
Black tea	309	49.19	19.42	0.0178	0.5460	0.0050	0.0585
Scented tea	28	50.00	17.86	0.0213	0.1750	0.0063	0.0872
Yellow tea	20	50.00	0.00	0.0080	0.0200	0.0058	0.0181
Green tea	870	64.37	25.63	0.0145	0.4850	0.0120	0.0371
Oolong tea	196	58.67	27.04	0.0171	0.2160	0.0130	0.0500
Total	1573	60.97	26.95	0.0170	0.5460	0.0120	0.0500

Note: Max, maximum; P95: 95th percentile.

Table 2. Analysis of the concentration levels of AQ in tea from different packaging types.

Packaging types	Number of samples	Detection rate (%)	Over-standard rate (%)	Concentration of AQ (mg/kg)
				Mean	Max	Median	P95
Stereotyped packaging	428	66.36	34.11	0.0180	0.1730	0.0140	0.0513
Bulk packaging	1145	58.95	24.28	0.0167	0.5460	0.0110	0.0499

Note: Max, maximum; P95: 95th percentile.

Table 3. Analysis of the concentration levels of AQ in tea from different sale spots.

Sale spots	Number of samples	Detection rate (%)	Over-standard rate (%)	Concentration of AQ (mg/kg)
				Mean	Max	Median	P95
Farmers’ markets	452	63.72	25.44	0.0139	0.1100	0.0120	0.0370
Tea factories	280	36.43	17.50	0.0202	0.5460	0.0050	0.0791
Stores	841	67.66	30.92	0.0177	0.4850	0.0140	0.0510

Note: Max, maximum; P95: 95th percentile.

Table 4. Analysis of the concentration levels of AQ in tea from different tea-producing areas.

Tea-producing areas^#	Number of samples	Detection rate (%)	Over-standard rate (%)	Concentration of AQ (mg/kg)
				Mean	Max	Median	P95
Anhui Province	127	78.74	42.52	0.0225	0.1950	0.0190	0.0507
Tea-producing areas unknown	268	60.45	19.78	0.0151	0.1750	0.0120	0.0428
Fujian Province	179	61.45	30.73	0.0237	0.3480	0.0130	0.0693
Guangdong Province	17	29.41	17.65	0.0429	0.5460	0.0050	0.1620
Guangxi Province	13	69.23	15.38	0.0116	0.0270	0.0110	0.0234
Guizhou Province	98	27.55	2.04	0.0038	0.0274	0.0015	0.0125
Henan Province	114	23.68	11.40	0.0064	0.1100	0.0015	0.0257
Hubei Province	69	52.17	4.35	0.0087	0.0240	0.0130	0.0180
Hunan Province	37	29.73	5.41	0.0093	0.0840	0.0025	0.0295
Jiangsu Province	14	57.14	21.43	0.0127	0.0380	0.0115	0.0302
Jiangxi Province	51	100.00	29.41	0.0198	0.0810	0.0160	0.0480
Shandong province	131	70.23	25.19	0.0186	0.4850	0.0113	0.0457
Sichuan Province	156	89.74	71.79	0.0288	0.0710	0.0290	0.0533
Yunnan Province	146	26.71	14.38	0.0107	0.1330	0.0015	0.0523
Zhejiang Province	108	92.59	33.33	0.0199	0.1730	0.0154	0.0513
Chongqing Municipality	45	93.33	37.78	0.0193	0.0386	0.0192	0.0305

Note: ^#Tea-producing areas mean the areas where the tea was planted and produced. Max, maximum; P95: 95th percentile.

Table 5. Analysis of the daily exposure of AQ via tea consumption in the Chinese population.

Groups	N	Daily exposure of AQ via tea consumption (µg/kg BW per day)							Mean/ADI (%)	P95/ADI (%)
		Mean	Max	Median	P90	P95^a	P97.5	P99
18−59 male	567	2.55 × 10^−4	2.43 × 10^−3	1.36 × 10^−4	5.52 × 10^−4	8.46 × 10^−4	1.24 × 10^−3	1.55 × 10^−3	0.0038	0.0124
18−59 female	226	2.07 × 10^−4	1.44 × 10^−3	1.33 × 10^−4	4.47 × 10^−4	7.63 × 10^−4	9.94 × 10^−4	1.29 × 10^−3	0.0030	0.0112
≥60 male	157	2.84 × 10^−4	2.19 × 10^−3	1.84 × 10^−4	6.33 × 10^−4	7.61 × 10^−4	1.10 × 10^−3	1.51 × 10^−3	0.0042	0.0112
≥60 female	65	2.74 × 10^−4	1.27 × 10^−3	1.55 × 10^−4	7.70 × 10^−4	9.36 × 10^−4	1.08 × 10^−3	1.24 × 10^−3	0.0040	0.0138
general population	1015	2.50 × 10^−4	2.43 × 10^−3	1.42 × 10^−4	5.74 × 10^−4	8.41 × 10^−4	1.17 × 10^−3	1.49 × 10^−3	0.0037	0.0124

Note: ^aThe P95 (P95th percentile) represents the high consumer exposure. N represents the number of tea consumers. Max, maximum; P, percentile.

Figure 2. The contribution of different types of tea to the exposure of AQ in the different groups.

Data availability statement

Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author [Yan Song] on request.