Nitrates in industrial and traditional tomato paste from Arsenjan City, Iran: a health risk assessment study.

A comprehensive approach was used for the first time to measure NO risk in tomato paste consumption; besides a robust deterministic and probabilistic method was used. The mean levels of NO in homemade and industrial tomato paste were 7.36 mg/kg and 43.69 mg/kg, respectively. The Monte Carlo simulation confirmed that these values were below normal levels (HQ less than 1). The sensitivity analysis displayed that FIR was the main factor affecting the risk to human health in both groups. The interactive plot demonstrated the interaction between C and IR for children and adults in both types of tomato paste. This study concludes that NO3- ingestion due to tomato paste consumption poses no significant health risk. However, considering that food and water constitute the primary sources of NO intake, continuous monitoring is recommended due to potential health risks associated with excessive NO consumption, including certain forms of cancer.