Arsenic Uptake and Accumulation in Curly Endives (Cichorium endivia L.) Irrigated with Contaminated Water

• Published in: Journal of environmental science and health. Part B, Pesticides, food contaminants, and agricultural wastes Pesticides, food contaminants, and agricultural wastes, 2006-07, Vol.41 (4), p.459-470
• Main Authors: CALVO, C., BOLADO, S., ALVAREZ-BENEDÍ, J., ANDRADE, M. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Arsenic - metabolism; Arsenic contamination; Arsenic uptake; Biological and medical sciences; Cichorium; Cichorium intybus - chemistry; Cichorium intybus - metabolism; Consumer Product Safety; Crops, Agricultural - chemistry; Curly endives; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; Environmental Monitoring; Food Contamination - analysis; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Irrigation water; Non agrochemicals pollutants; Phytopathology. Animal pests. Plant and forest protection; Pollution effects and side effects of agrochemicals on crop plants and forest trees. Other anthropogenic factors; Pollution effects. Side effects of agrochemicals; Soil; Soil Pollutants - pharmacokinetics; Water Pollutants, Chemical - pharmacokinetics
• ISSN: 0360-1234; 1532-4109
• DOI: 10.1080/03601230600634778

Arsenic accumulation in vegetables for direct human consumption represents a concern for food safety purposes. This potential problem can be of economic importance particularly in much appreciated, high-quality horticultural products. In this work, a greenhouse set of experiments were conducted to evaluate possible phytotoxic effects and arsenic accumulation in the production of curly endives with arsenic contaminated water. Two concentration levels (0.5 mg/L and 1.0 mg/L) and two arsenic species (As +3 and As +5 ) were considered. Dry mass production tended to be reduced as As +3 concentration increased in irrigation water. However, As +5 treatments did not show significant dry mass production differences with a blank (control experiment). As accumulation in plant increased with As concentration in irrigation waters, following a linear trend. Nevertheless, the increase of accumulated As was not statistically significant for As +5 at 0.5 mg/L. Calculated biological absorption coefficients resulted in higher than previous values reported in the literature, which was attributed here to the source of arsenic (irrigation water). Considering field values for As +5 /As +3 ratio and averaged concentrations in water, the obtained results support that there is not a short-or medium-term risk to food safety in the curly endive crop in the region of Castilla y León (Spain).