Estimation of Environmental Risk when Eating Raw and Boiled Vegetables

Abstract

The risk to human health due the consumption of vegetables is based on the characterization of harmful effects that can develop in the human body in case of the long-term eating of these products. At the same time, when people consume vegetables, it is possible to reduce their content of pollutants by heat treatment, for example, cooking. Therefore, it is relevant to compare the risk that occurs when eating raw and boiled vegetables. Purpose. Determination of environmental risk from the eating of vegetables (carrots and potatoes) with high concentrations of chemical elements and the ability to reduce them in case of boiling. Methods. Field, atomic absorption spectrophotometry, statistical methods were used. Results. On the basis of field-based research, the content of heavy metals - lead, cadmium, zinc, copper and iron and nitrates in cooked and raw carrots and potatoes - was determined on the farmland located in Shevchenkovo settlement of the Kharkiv region and laboratory studies. It turned out that virtually all metals concentrations do not have excessived MAC. To determine the level of influence of cooking on the fruit the relative content of heavy metals before and after cooking were researched. Based on the results of laboratory analysis, the coefficients of concentration of heavy metals in plant products were calculated and the environmental risk from the consumption of vegetables in food was calculated. When comparing all risk agents among themselves by hazard ratios, the predominance of nitrates and cadmium in all samples was detected. It should also be noted that there is a high risk of lead, copper and iron found in carrots. Comparison of test objects with the overall environmental risk for health from their use showed that the highest risk is crude carrots, and the lowest - potatoes are cooked. Heat treatment of carrots reduces the overall risk by only 25%, and potato - by 40%. Conclusions. It is established that after heat treatment almost all substances are partially derived from vegetables. Analysis of the changes occurring in potatoes and carrots after cooking indicates a reduction in the risk of the disease. The risk of the onset of diseases in virtually all organs is highest when carrots are consumed raw.