Horticultural Plants Nutrition

Horticultural Plants Nutrition

Study of Nitrate and Heavy Metal Pollutant Concentration in Soil and Edible Leafy vegetables and Risk Assessment of its Consumption with Hazard Quotient Index

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Mohsen Seilsepour
Greenhouse Cultivation Research Department, Tehran Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, Varamin, Iran mseilsep@yahoo.com
10.22070/hpn.2020.5485.1098
Abstract
During a one-year field study, the concentrations of nitrates and heavy metals in soil and edible leafy vegetables were measured in farms in Varamin, Pakdasht, Pishva and Qarchak counties. The average concentrations of lead, cadmium and nickle in leafy vegetables were 0.2 , 0.77 and 2.1 mg‌/‌kg, respectively. The concentration of lead were 900% more than standard declared by the National Organization for Standardization of Iran. The average concentrations of lead, cadmium and nickel in the soil of the fields were 10.7, 1.46 and 1.18 mg‌/‌kg, respectively, which was less than the maximum allowed. The risk index for non-cancerous diseases was used to assess the risk of leafy vegetables consumption. The average risk index of lead, nickel and cadmium in leafy vegetables was 0.22, 0.05 and 0.03, respectively. Among leafy vegetables, the most dangerous were nitrate, lead, nickel and cadmium from lettuce, mint, parsley and lettuce. The results of the biological concentration factor calculation showed that coriander had the highest lead and nickel biological concentration factor among leafy vegetables, which indicates the tendency of this vegetable to absorb and accumulate lead and nickel compared to others. Leafy vegetables were not much different in terms of cadmium accumulation.
Keywords
Lead
Cadmium
Nickle
Biological concentration