Determination of heavy metals in some Cakes types collected from markets in the City of Al-Bayda – Libya

Heavy metals are chemical elements with high density and atomic weight. Despite their widespread use in various industries and applications, they pose significant risks to the environment and public health if not handled properly. This study was conducted to estimate the concentration of some different elements in different types of cakes, where cake samples were collected from different shops from Al-Bayda city, the study dealt with six types of cakes. Flame photometer was used to estimate sodium and potassium salts and spectrophotometer to estimate heavy elements. The samples were digested using the digestion method using HNO1 and HCl and heating until the brown oxides evaporate and we get half the amount. The results showed that the concentration of sodium, chromium, iron and copper is below the permissible limits and the concentration of potassium is higher than the permissible limits and the results also showed that the collected cake samples do not contain lead and a discrepancy was observed .The potassium concentration ranged from (541. 50 to 763.25), sodium concentration ranges from (1.34 to 3.52), iron concentration ranges from (1.72 to 7.16), copper concentration ranges from (44.36 to 67.62), and chromium concentration ranges from (0 to 0.25). The study could be expanded to include other types of cakes, such as filled cakes to provide a more comprehensive picture of heavy metal contamination in these products. More heavy metals, such as mercury, arsenic, and cadmium, could be analyzed to more accurately assess health risks. Keywords: Heavy metals, Cakes types, market and Al-Bayda – Libya.