Potential Health Risk Assessment of Selected Heavy Metals, Nitrate and Nitrite, in Snuff Inhaled in Afikpo-North of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The analyses of the concentrations of selected heavy metals, nitrate and nitrite in smokeless tobacco were carried out to determine the potential health risk of their exposure. The pulverized snuff samples (prepared by unknown methods) were obtained randomly from vendors from Afikpo, Amasiri and Unwana, and then analyzed using standard analytical procedures. The results showed concentrations of Zn, Cu and Fe having significant (p<0.05) increase in snuff obtained from Afikpo, Amasiri and Unwana respectively compared to other metals. The concentration of nitrate showed a significant (p<0.05) increase in snuff obtained from the Afikpo compared to nitrite. All the values were lower than the maximum permissible limit and the THQ of these substances were less than 1. However, target hazard quotients of Cd were greater than 1 and higher than other metals. Therefore, these findings suggest that exposure to Cadmium in snuff (smokeless tobacco) might pose noncarcinogenic health risk.