Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are ubiquitous chemical compounds in the environment due to contamination of air, water, or soil. They are primarily sourced from fossil fuel combustion, mining and smelting, electroplating, dyes and pigments, agricultural treatments, and plastic and metallic industries. These chemical contaminants can produce various adverse effects when they enter the human body and can also affect crops and aquatic ecosystems. To address these issues, researchers are developing various techniques, including ion exchange, membrane filtration, photocatalysis, electrochemical methods, bioadsorption, and combinations of these processes, to reduce the levels of these contaminants, especially from wastewater. Among these methods, bioadsorption has gained much attention due to its high efficiency, low cost, and abundance of adsorbent materials. Agricultural byproducts used as biosorbents include rice husk and bran, citrus peel, banana peel, coconut husk, sugarcane bagasse, soybean hulls, walnut and almond shells, coconut fiber, barley straws, and many others. Biosorption capacity can be described using adsorption kinetic models such as Elovich, Ritchie’s, and pseudo-second-order models, as well as different adsorption isotherm models such as Freundlich, Langmuir, Temkin isotherm, and BET models. Both conventional processes and adsorption models are influenced by parameters such as pH, agitation speed, contact time, particle size, concentration of the adsorbent material, initial concentration of the contaminant, and the type of modifying agent used. This review paper aims to examine the low-cost adsorbents and their removal efficiency and bioadsorption capacity for different PTEs present in wastewater, and their potential as decontamination methods.

Bibliometric analysis is an effective method used to identify research trends based on historical publications that involves combining different frameworks, tools and methods, leading to the creation of different metrics. This study employed bibliometric analysis to investigate the global health risk assessment of heavy metals in food from 2000 to 2022 using Web of Science and VOSviewer. We explore publication trends, affiliations, countries, journals, citations, keywords and author collaborations. Of the 573 publications on this topic, there has been a notable increase in recent years. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (China) and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (Iran) are the most prolific affiliations. Environmental Science and Pollution Research is the top journal. Notably, “heavy metals”, “risk assessment”, “cadmium”, “lead”, and “trace elements” are frequently used keywords. A study by Miraglia et al. in 2009 received the most citations. Amin Mousavi Khaneghah (Poland) is the most prolific author, with 24 papers. Articles mainly focus on contamination levels in fish, seafood, cereals, dairy, meat, and fruit/vegetables. Some studies highlight potential risks, necessitating stricter food product controls for consumer safety.

Food packaging plays an essential role in preserving food quality. However, heavy metals found in packaging materials—whether intentionally incorporated or not—can migrate into food. This study aims to evaluate the migration of specific heavy metals (Ba, Co, Cu, Zn, Al, Ni, Li, Fe, Pb, Cd, Cr, Sb) from plastic food packages (films and bags) obtained from various materials (PE, PP, PVC, composite materials) into food simulant B (3% acetic acid) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Migration tests was conducted according to EU regulations, using OM2 conditions (10 days at 40 °C). The obtained results were lower than the specific migration limits set by EU Regulation no. 10/2011 (Annex II). Both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessments were carried out based on the specific migration data, estimating the exposure, average daily dose (ADD), hazard quotient (HQ), hazard index (HI), cancer risk (CR), and total cancer risk (TCR). The exposure values were found to be below the recommended tolerable daily intake (TDI) levels for each metal tested. Both HQ and HI values were under the limit value of 1. The average total cancer risk was 1.73 × 10⁻⁴, indicating that approximately 1.73 consumers out of 10,000 may develop a type of cancer due to chronic exposure to the tested metals. These results highlight the importance of continuous monitoring of chemical migrants from food contact materials.

The growing consumer demand for plant-based, protein- and fiber-enriched foods has encouraged the incorporation of novel functional ingredients into bakery products. Hemp flour (HF), obtained from cold-pressed hemp seeds, represents a sustainable ingredient rich in proteins, dietary fibers, lipids, and bioactive compounds, making it suitable for nutritional fortification. This study investigated the impact of HF addition (5–40%) on the quality of muffins prepared with wheat flour (WF) and whole wheat flour (WWF). An initial hedonic sensory evaluation identified 5–20% HF as the most acceptable substitution range, which was then subjected to detailed physicochemical, sensory, textural, colorimetric, and microbiological analyses. Incorporation of HF significantly increased protein (up to +44%), fiber (up to +172%), and ash (up to +76%) contents, while decreasing moisture (−39%). Both WF and WWF muffins darkened with HF incorporation, with a greater lightness reduction in WF. Texture changes (increased firmness and gumminess) were more pronounced in WF muffins. Sensory analysis revealed that WF muffins were best accepted at 10–15% HF, whereas WWF muffins maintained good acceptability up to 20% HF, indicating better integration of HF in the whole grain matrix. All samples complied with microbiological safety requirements. Overall, the optimal substitution level was 10–15% HF in WF muffins and 20% HF in WWF muffins, demonstrating that HF can enhance the nutritional profile of muffins while maintaining acceptable technological and sensory properties in a matrix-dependent manner.

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of incorporating hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) flour (HF) into muffins on their nutritional, physicochemical, microbiological, and sensory characteristics. Muffins were prepared by partially replacing wheat flour (WF) and whole wheat flour (WWF) with HF at levels of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. Analytical evaluations included proximate composition, texture profile analysis (TPA), color measurements, microbial safety tests, and sensory evaluation using trained panelists. The results showed that increasing HF levels improved fiber, protein, and ash content, while moisture content decreased. Texture parameters such as firmness and cohesiveness were affected, and color analysis revealed a progressive darkening of the product with higher HF content. Microbiological analysis confirmed that all samples were within acceptable safety limits. Sensory evaluation indicated that muffins containing up to 15% HF were generally well accepted, while higher levels influenced texture and flavor negatively. The study concludes that HF can be a valuable ingredient for developing nutritionally enriched and sustainable baked goods, provided that formulation is carefully optimized to ensure product quality and consumer acceptability.