Assessment of trace metals in five most-consumed vegetables in the US: Conventional vs. organic

• Published in: Environmental pollution (1987) 2018-12, Vol.243 (Pt A), p.292-300
• Main Authors: Hadayat, Naila, De Oliveira, Letuzia M., Da Silva, Evandro, Han, Lingyue, Hussain, Mumtaz, Liu, Xue, Ma, Lena Q.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carrot; Daucus carota - chemistry; Environmental Monitoring; Florida; Health risks; Heavy Metal Poisoning - prevention & control; Humans; Lactuca - chemistry; Lettuce; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Onion; Onions - chemistry; Potato; Risk Assessment; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Solanum lycopersicum - chemistry; Solanum tuberosum - chemistry; Tomato; Trace Elements - analysis; Vegetables - chemistry
• ISSN: 0269-7491; 1873-6424
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.08.065

Metal concentrations (As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ba, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) in conventional and organic produce were assessed, specifically, five most-consumed vegetables from the US including potato, lettuce, tomato, carrot and onion. They were from four representative supermarkets in a college town in Florida. All vegetables contained detectable metals, while As, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ba are toxic metals, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn are nutrients for humans. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cr and Ba in five vegetables were 7.86, 9.17, 12.1, 44.8 and 410 μg/kg for organic produce, slightly lower than conventional produce at 7.29, 15.3, 17.9, 46.3 and 423 μg/kg. The mean concentrations of Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn in five vegetables were 3.86, 58.5, 632, and 2528 μg/kg for organic produce, comparable to conventional produce at 5.94, 68.2, 577, and 2354 μg/kg. For toxic metals, the order followed tomato