Determination of heavy metals in edible vegetables and a human health risk assessment

Abstract

Vegetable consumption is a significant route to elevate the concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals to be mobilized and enter the food chain. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the number of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb in daily consumed legume collected in the Erbil city and to determine their health risks relevant to their estimated daily intake and Hazard Quotient. Total contents of As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb in Artemisia dracunculus L. (tarragon), Laurus nobilis L. (bay laurel), Anethum graveolens L.(dill), Prosopis farcta J.F.Macbr (Syrian mesquite), Vitis vinifera L.(vine leaves), Thymus sp. (thymes), Eruca sativa Mill. (arugula), Ocimum basilicum L. (basil), Portulaca oleracea L.(common purslane) and Petroselinum crispum Fuss (parsley) were measured subsequent microwave-assisted acid digestion utilizing nitric acid/ hydrogen peroxide followed by analysis using ICP-MS. A certified reference material (GBW10015-spinach) was analyzed to validate the applied methodology.The outcome of this work revealed that the range of heavy metals, including As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb in vegetables based on dry weight (µg/g) were 0.15–0.63, 0.110–0.612, 0.45–1.76, 0.10–0.32, 0.64–1.92, 0.29–1.27 and 0.61–1.65, respectively. Hazard quotient of As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ni and Pb were in the range of 2.71–11.38, 0.60–3.32, 0.81–3.18, 0.03–0.09, 0.09–0.26, 0.08–0.34 and 0.83–2.23 respectively. The findings of this study revealed that there would be a noncarcinogenic health risk to the population of Erbil city because the Hazard Quotient value is higher than 1 for As (in all analyzed vegetables), Cd (in all vegetables except dill, Syrian mesquite, thymes, arugula, basil and common purslane) and Cr (in all vegetables except vine leaves, common purslane and parsley).