Conor Reilly 
Metal Contamination of Food 
Its Significance for Food Quality and Human Health

Since publication of the previous edition of this successful book,
there have been many advances in the field of food science and
metal analysis and these have been taken into account of in
compiling this new edition. Data on metal levels in foods and diets
have been updated with information gathered from recent
international literature. More than 80% of the text has been
completely rewritten and, as the addition of a new subtitle
suggests, greater account is taken than in earlier editions of the
importance of the nutritional properties of many of the metals that
we consume.

In the compilation of this cutting-edge new edition, full
account has been taken of the significant advances in the ready
availability of multi-element analysis, improved sample preparation
procedures and a growing interest in the content of chemical
species in foods. Details of several metals, not considered in
depth in previous editions but now widely used in the electronic
and chemical industries, have also been included.

The third edition of Metal Contamination of Food is an
essential reference book for food industry personnel, including
those working in food processing, formation and ingredients,
packaging, quality control and food safety. Nutritionists, public
analysts and chemists will also find much of great use within the
covers of this book. Libraries and laboratories worldwide in all
universities and research establishments where food science and
technology, nutrition and chemistry are studied and taught
should

Table of Content

Preface tp the third edition.

Preface to the second edition.

Preface to the first edition.

PART I: THE METALS WE CONSUME:.

Introduction; Ash; The metals in food; Chemical properties of
the metals; Representative and transition metals; Distribution of
the metals in the environment; Metals in human tissue; Metals in
soil; Metals in food; Metal analysis of food; How metals get into
food; Metals in food and the law..

PART II: THE INDIVIDUAL METALS:.

The persistent contaminants: lead, mercury, cadmium; The
packaging metals: aluminium and tin; Transition metals: chromium,
manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, molybdenum; The other
transition metals and zinc; The metalloids: arsenic, antimony,
selenium, tellurium and boron; The new metal contaminants; The
radioactive metals; Radioisotopes; The catalytic metals; The
electronic metals; Germanium; Tantalum; Caesium; Barium, beryllium,
thallium and the other metals – summing up; Bismuth; Lithium;
Zirconium; Cerium and the other rare earth elements; The remaining
metals: summing up.

Glossary.

Index.

About the author

Conor Reilly is Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and also Visiting Professor of Nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK.