HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATION IN COMMONLY SOLD STEM VEGETABLES IN DHAKA CITY MARKET AND PROBABLE HEALTH RISK

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess the concentration of chromium
(Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and
manganese (Mn) in four stem vegetables such as Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.),
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), Garlic (Allium sativumL.) and Onion (Allium
cepa L.) by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Average daily
intake (ADI), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were also estimated to
assess the human health risks posed by heavy metals from the consumption of
the studied vegetables. The studied stem vegetable samples were collected in
four phases from Kawran Bazar fresh vegetable market of Dhaka city of
Bangladesh. Mean concentrations of Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn in the
studied stem vegetables ranged between 0.88 to 2.35, 0.08 to 0.15, 0 to 2.25, 0 to
3.30, 5.70 to 9.85, 18.83 to 40.67, 50.60 to 456.38 and 9.23 to 852.35 mg/kg of dry
weight, respectively. Mean concentration of maximum permissible limit (MPL)
exceed in onion for Cr, in potato and onion for Pb and in ginger for Fe, Ni and
Mn. Average daily intake was found to be lower than the maximum permitted
tolerable daily intake in most cases except for Mn (26.475 mg/person/day) for
consumption Ginger. Hazard quotient of Mn for dietary intake of Ginger (3.152)
and hazard indices of Ginger (4.626), Garlic (1.183) and Onion (1.069) exceeded
unity, signifying potential health risks from the dietary intake of these
vegetables. This study suggests regular monitoring of heavy metals in vegetables
to avoid the potential health hazards on human.