Determinación de plomo en theobroma cacao por medio de la técnica de fluorescencia de rayos X de reflexión total

Abstract

The heavy metals are a group of approximately 40 elements of the periodic table which have as characteristic a density greater or equal to 5 g / cm3. Some of these elements are essential for the growth, reproduction and survival of living organisms; while others such as lead and arsenic, they are considered as heavy metals of high toxicity for human health even in low concentrations, damaging especially the nervous system and reaching mainly affect the infants. This chemical element can be absorbed by the Theobroma cacao exposing to toxicity to people who consume its or products derived from it. As previously mentioned, this work focused on determining and quantifying lead in samples of Theobroma cacao from two crops of Municipality of san Vicente de Chucurí (Santa Inés district and Campo Hermoso district). For this purpose, the total x-ray reflection fluorescence (TXRF) was used through the Standadless method as elemental quantification technique. The presence of lead was identified in four samples studied and in three of them, from the Campo Hermoso district, the lead content was quantified.