THE CONTENTS OF NITRATES AND NITRITES IN FOOD AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF THE POPULATION OF MELITOPOL

Abstract

One of the main criteria of the characteristic of the quality and the safety of the food of the plant and the animal origin is the pollution of the most common contaminants such as the nitrates and the nitrites. The observation of their contents has been and remains actual. In 2017-2019, the plant and the animal foods of the contents of the nitrates and the nitrites have been investigated by us in Melitopol. The subjects of the research are potatoes, onions, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, strawberries which have been purchased in the supermarkets and in the market in the farmers and in the owners of the farmland. For this purpose, twice a year (6 spring (May) and 6 autumn samples (September)) have been taken samples of each products for the nitrate contents. The meat of pigs and chickens, beef, boiled and smoked sausage (3 samples for each product) have been investigated in the animal products. The research has been carried out in the laboratory of the university with the express-method using a digital nitrate tester SOEKS and the potentiometric method with the ionomer I-160MI with the ion-selective electrode ELIS-121NO3 K80.7. In general, 378 samples of the plant food and 21 samples of the animal food have been analyzed. The presence of the nitrate and the nitrite of the nutritional additives (E 250-253) in the cheese and the meat products (34 types) has been determined according to the corresponding labels on the package. It has been installed that in the food of the plant origin from the Melitopol trade network the nitrates in the different concentrations have been presented in all researched food. The largest amount of the nitrates has contained all spring vegetables and the strawberries from the farms, which is obviously due to the agro-technological conditions of their growing. The minimum contents of the nitrates have been found in the vegetables and the fruit which are grown on the farmland. Safe for the people of Melitopol for the nitrate contents of the product of the animal origin has been detected in the fresh meat, and the sausage products are the most dangerous, which in all samples contain nitrates with a significant exceeding of the concentration. The nitrate and the nitrite pollution of the food affect the health status of the population of Melitopol, which is most often manifested in the increase of the indicator of the morbidity of cardiovascular system, oncopathology, digestive system and food poisoning.