## 2 Materials and Methods
### Estimation of Health Risk  
The health risk assessment (noncarcinogenic hazard) related to the ingestion of aluminum from the tea infusions was performed using the target hazard quotient (THQ) calculated by the formula [30]:  
\[\text{THQ}=\text{CDI}/\text{RfD} \tag{1}\]  
where the chronic daily intake (CDI) is the estimated amount of aluminum intake per kilogram of body weight, and the RfD is the oral aluminum intake reference dose of 0.143 (mg/kg/day). The RfD value was determined based on the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) established at the level of 1 mg/kg/week by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) [31]. TWI was established due to the accumulation of aluminum in the human body. A THQ of <1 indicates an insignificant risk level, whereas a THQ of >1 implies a potential non-cancer-causing health impact.  
The CDI value was calculated using the equation:  
\[\text{CDI}=(\text{C}\times\text{DI}\times\text{EF}\times\text{ED})/(\text{BW} \times\text{AT}) \tag{2}\]  
where C is the aluminum concentration in tea infusion (mg/L), DI is the average daily intake rate of tea (L/day), EF is exposure frequency (day/year), ED is the exposure duration (year), BW is body weight (kg), and AT is the averaging time (days). The health risk assessment was carried out with the division of the population in terms of age and gender. The average daily intake of the tea infusion was determined based on sufficient water intake for a given population group, assuming that 70% of this intake is provided in the form of liquids and that 50% of these liquids are provided in the form of tea infusion. The value of the daily consumption of tea infusion determined in this way is presented in Table 1 and marked with the abbreviation DI50%. The division of the population into groups and the adopted values of body weight and the value of sufficient water intake were adopted in accordance with the nutritional standards for the Polish population [32] and are presented in Table 2.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \begin{tabular}{c} **The Exposure Duration** \\ **ED (Year)** \\ \end{tabular} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Body Weight BW (kg)**} & \
\begin{tabular}{c} **Average Daily Intake Rate** \\ **of Tea DI50\% (L/Day)** \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} **Adequate Intake of** \\ **Water (L)** \\ \end{tabular} \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Kids} & 3 & 12 & 0.438 & 1.25 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 6 & 19 & 0.560 & 1.60 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 9 & 27 & 0.613 & 1.75 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Girls} & 12 & 38 & 0.665 & 1.90 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 15 & 51 & 0.683 & 1.95 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 18 & 56 & 0.700 & 2.00 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Boys} & 12 & 38 & 0.735 & 2.10 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 15 & 54 & 0.823 & 2.35 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 18 & 67 & 0.875 & 2.50 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Women} & 81 & 45 & 0.700 & 2.00 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 81 & 55 & 0.700 & 2.00 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 81 & 65 & 0.700 & 2.00 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 81 & 75 & 0.700 & 2.00 \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Men} & 74 & 55 & 0.875 & 2.50 \\ \cline{2-5}  & 74 & 65 & 0.875 & 2.50 \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5}  & 74 & 75 & 0.875 & 2.50 \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-5}  & 74 & 85 & 0.875 & 2.50 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Data used to calculate chronic daily intake of aluminum from the tea infusion [32].