ABSTRACT

The contents of nitrites and nitrates in whole day’s food of children at preschool age have been examined. Meals consisted of three dishes were taken from one of the day nurseries in Łódź in January 1996. In the evaluation of the degree of exposure the highest permissible daily intake was considered of nitrites (0,2 mg NaN0₂) and nitrates (5 mg KNO₃) for kg of body weight and assumed averange body weight was 20 kg for children. The contents of nitrites and nitrates were determined spectrophotometrically on the basis of Griess reaction. Nitrates were reduced to nitrites passing anaquelos extract of the studied sample through a column filled with cadium dust. The range of qualitity of collected nitrates in meals in wide and the quantity oscillate between 8,9 and 127, mg KNO₃, the average quantity is 55,01 mg KNO₃. The quantity of collected nitrites is between 0,5 and 3,8 mg NaN0₂ and the average quantity is 1,58 mg NaN0₂.