Determination of potentially toxic element contents of vegetable products consumed in Kastamonu and evaluation of health risk

Vegetables are nutritional sources containing beneficial phytochemicals, vitamins, protein, carbohydrates and minerals and play an important role in preventing many chronic diseases. However, vegetables are contaminated with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) caused by anthropogenic and natural activities. Therefore, in this study, fourteen PTEs in samples of some of the most consumed vegetables in Kastamonu province, located in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey, were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Also, potential non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risks caused by the consumption of these vegetable samples were evaluated for adult individuals. The average concentrations (μg/kg, dry weight) of Fe, Al, Sr, Mn, Zn, Ti, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, As, Cr, Cd, and Co analyzed in sixty-nine samples of thirty-six different vegetable species (cabbage, purslane, Swiss chard, spinach, parsley, dill, mint, rocket, lettuce, mushroom, eggplant, squash, okra, bell pepper, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, pumpkin, capia pepper, potato, leek, celeriac, red beets, carrots, sugar beets, turnip, dry onion, green onion, red radishes, white radishes, Jerusalem artichokes, Borlotti beans, beans, green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower) collected from markets and marketplaces in Kastamonu were determined as 162.713, 79.078, 33.894, 15.971, 8.944, 8.323, 5.277, 5.174, 2.193, 2.034, 1.637, 1.592, 536 and 395, respectively. The non-carcinogenic health risk caused by all analyzed PTEs was evaluated by estimating the risk index (RI), and the cancer health risk caused by Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd and As elements was evaluated by estimating the cancer risk (CR) index. Evaluation of the potential non-carcinogenic risk reveals that there is no risk in consumption of the examined vegetables (except eggplant, potatoes and sugar beet) for adult consumers. However, the CR values calculated for Pb, Ni, Cr and As analyzed in eleven vegetables were found to be above the safety limit (CR ≥ 10-4).