CARPATHIAN JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METALS VIA CONSUMPTION OF

VEGETABLES COLLECTED FROM VEGETABLE MARKETS IN
HENGYANG, CHINA

Hongwen Dai1, 2, *, Xiuxian Song1, Baifei Huang1

1 Research Center for Environmental Pollution Control Technology, Department of Safety and Environmental Engineering,
Hunan Institute of Technology, Hengyang 421002, China;
2 College of Health and Human Services, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA; * sksk886@163.com

Article history: ABSTRACT

Fill be filled by editor In this study, a food survey was carried out with two purposes: (1) to
investigate the levels of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in various vegetables
Keywords: randomly collected in vegetable markets of Hengyang; (2) to assess the
Heavy metals; potential health risk for local residents by estimating the daily intake (EDI)
Vegetables; and the target hazard quotient (THQ) for each heavy metal. The
Health risks assessment; concentrations of Cd and Pb in selected vegetables were detected within
Target hazard quotient (THQ); the following ranges: ND-0.619 and ND-1.822 mg/kg (fresh weight, fw),
China with the mean of 0.043 and 0.180 mg/kg (fw), respectively. Results showed
that the concentrations of heavy metals in the vegetables decreased in the
order of leafy vegetables/stem vegetables > root vegetables > solanaceous
vegetables > melon vegetables. The Cd concentrations of 8.5% of the
tested samples, the Pb concentrations of 35.9% of the tested samples,
exceeded the maximum level (ML) of the tolerance limit of contaminants
in foods in the China National Standards (GB 2762-2012). For all
vegetables, EDI were below the threshold values for Cd (adults 0.266;
children 0.339) and Pb (adults 1.108; children 1.412). The estimated total
THQ of children from the Zhengxiang district approached 1, indicating
potential health risks associated with the consumption of vegetables.

1. Introduction cardiovascular disease (Ekong et al., 2006;

Anthropogenic activities, such as
industrial processing, mining, and wastewater
release, are the main sources of heavy metal
contamination in the environment (Cherfi et al.,
2015; Li et al., 2014). Heavy metals such as
Cd, Pb, Cr, and Hg are toxic elements and their
accumulation over the time in the living
organisms can cause serious effects (Onsanit et
al., 2010). Chronic Cd exposure can cause
acute toxicity to the kidney and liver, induce
nephrotoxicity and osteoporosis, and impair
function of the immune system (Klaassen et al.,
2009; Patrick, 2003). Lead can adversely
influence the intelligence development of
children, cause excessive Pb in blood, and
induce nephropathy, hypertension and
Navas-Acien et al., 2007). Thus, there is an
increasing concern about food safety issues and
potential health risks, because of the
accumulation of heavy metals in the crops and
vegetables (Jarup, 2003; Waqas et al., 2014).
Vegetables are important components of
human diet across the world. They are rich in
nutrients required for human health, and are an
important source of carbohydrates, minerals,
vitamins, proteins, and fibers (Hu et al., 2013).
In many countries and regions, vegetables are
exposed to heavy metals by various pathways,
thus vegetable consumption can cause adverse
health effects. Song et al. (2009) reported that
the Cd, Pb, Cr, As, and Ni concentration in
0.58%, 7.3%, 0.96%, 12.6%, and 2.62% of
vegetable samples, respectively, exceeded the
maximum level (ML) of the tolerance limit of
contaminants in foods from China. Hu et al.
(2013) reported that 26%, 16%, and 0.56% of
market vegetables in Hong Kong were
contaminated by Cd, Pb, and Cr, respectively.
In China, about 16% of farmland (equivalent to
approximately 21.4 million ha) is contaminated
by heavy metals and metalloids (Zhao et al.,
2015). Furthermore, vegetables can easily take
up and accumulate heavy metals, even heavy
metal in soil at low levels (Grant et al., 2008;
Xin et al., 2013). As vegetables are an essential
food for daily consumption, heavy metals in
vegetables may contribute a major part to the
provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI)
previously established by the Joint FAO/WHO
Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
Therefore, information about heavy metal
accumulation in vegetables collected from
vegetable markets and their dietary intake are
necessary for assessing their risk to human
health.
This study aimed to investigate the
concentrations of Cd and Pb in the vegetables
collected from vegetable markets and figure out
whether they meet the agreed international
requirements or not. The study also focuses on
the health risks through the estimated daily
intake (EDI) and the target hazard quotient
(THQ) of these metals via consumption of
vegetables.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
Hengyang (112° 31' 40" - 112° 42' 08" E,
26° 46' 30" - 26° 55' 40" N), is the second
largest city of Hunan province, located in
southern China. Hengyang has a 1000-years
history of metal-mining activities and is
characterized as a hilly and upland landscape. It
has various and abundant minerals and is well
known as the “hometown of nonferrous
metals”. Activities such as mining, waste, and
slag disposal have contributed to soils polluted
with heavy metals (Wei et al., 2009).
Four districts of Hengyang were selected
in this study since vegetables produced in these
areas contain heavy metals and may likely
result in adverse health effects to the population
of Hengyang. Locally grown vegetables, such
as cabbage, pak choi, hot pepper, asparagus
lettuce, leek, taro and white radish, are the
major foods for residents in the study areas.
They are taken directly to market for human
consumption.
2.2. Sampling
Two large vegetable markets were
randomly selected per district, a total of 142
Samples of 18 vegetable species were collected
from vegetable markets of Hengyang, China in
January 2015. A total of five types of
vegetables were collected at vegetable markets.
Approximately, 2 kg of each vegetable was
randomly collected. The details of the samples
are shown in Table 1.
2.3. Samples preparation and analysis
Vegetable samples were separately rinsed
with tap water, and root vegetable samples
were desorbed for 15 min in ice-cold 5 mM
CaCl2 solution (5 mM Mes-Tris, pH 6.0). All
samples were thoroughly washed with
deionized water, dried first at 105 °C for 30
min and then at 70 °C in an oven until
completely dry. The dried vegetable samples
were comminuted to pass through a 100 mesh
sieve and stored in closed polyethylene bags for
digestion. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in the
samples were determined with a flame atomic
absorption spectrophotometer (Shimadzu
6300C, Japan) after digestion with HNO3-H2O2
(5:2, v/v) in a microwave oven (Microwave
digester XT-9900A, Shanghai Xintuo
Analytical Instruments Co., Ltd., China).
Quality control of the analytical measurements
was performed using blank samples and
certified reference materials of plant
(GBW10049, provided by the National
Research Center for CRM, China). The
precision and bias of the chemical analysis
were less than 10%.
2.4. Statistical analysis
All the results were expressed on a fresh
weight (fw) basis. The arithmetic means (AMs)
along with the standard deviations (SD) were
calculated for the heavy metal concentrations
determined in the vegetable samples. One-way
ANOVA data analysis (95 % confidence level)
was applied to detect significant statistical
differences. In addition, correlation analysis
was conducted by Spearman correlation (95 %
confidence limit). All statistical analyses were
performed with SPSS 22.0 and Microsoft Excel
2010.
2.5. Estimated daily intake of heavy metals
from vegetables
Estimated daily intake (EDI) (μg/(kg body
weight (bw)•d)) of heavy metals from
vegetable consumption was obtained by the
following equation:
EDI = (C×FIR)/WAB (1)
where, C (mg/kg fw) is the mean metal
concentration in the edible parts of the
vegetable. FIR (g/(d•person)) is a daily
vegetable consumption. As reported in
literature, the average FIR for adults and
children is 394 and 257 g/(d•person),
respectively (Pang et al., 2005). WAB is the
average body weight (63.9 kg for adult and
32.7 kg for children) (Ge, 1996; Ge and Zhai,
2004).
2.6. Health risk assessment
The health risks associated with heavy
metals ingested through vegetable consumption
were assessed using the target hazard quotient
(THQ) (Cherfi et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2006;
USEPA, 2000). The THQ is given by the
following equation:
THQ=(C×FIR×EFr×ED)/(WAB×ATn×RfD) (2)
where, EFr is the exposure frequency (350
d/year), ED is the exposure duration (30 years
for adults and 6 years for children), ATn is the
averaged exposure time (365 d/year for ED).
RfD is the oral reference dose (Cd and Pb
values were 1.0 and 3.6 μg/kg/day,
respectively) (FAO/WHO, 2001). If the THQ
value is greater than 1, the exposure is likely to
cause obvious adverse effects.
The total THQ (TTHQ) of heavy metals for
vegetables is given by the following equation
(Cherfi et al., 2015; Zhou et al., 2016):
TTHQ=THQ1+THQ2+…+THQn (3)
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Concentrations of Cd and Pb in
vegetables
The Cd and Pb concentrations of the 18
species vegetables are presented in Table 2.
There were 20 and 8 samples below the
detection limit of 0.001 mg/kg for Cd and Pb,
respectively. As can be seen, clear differences
were found in the concentrations of the heavy
metals. The observed ranges in the
concentrations of Cd and Pb were ND-0.619
mg/kg and ND-1.822 mg/kg, respectively, with
mean concentrations of 0.043 and 0.180 mg/kg,
respectively. The lowest concentrations of Cd
and Pb of 18 species vegetables were in
cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and Asparagus
lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), respectively, while
the highest concentrations were in Taro
(Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott.) and Leek
(Allium tuberosum Rottl.). According to the
tolerance limit of contaminants in foods in the
China National Standards, the Cd
concentrations of 12 vegetable samples (8.5%
of the tested samples), the Pb concentrations of
51 vegetable samples (35.9% of the tested
samples), exceeded the maximum level (ML)
(Table 3). The levels of the metals match with
those reported for similar vegetables. Zhou et
al. (2016) carried out a field experiment on a
heavy metals contaminated farmland near
Shizhuyuan Mine Zone in Hunan province,
found that the Cd concentrations of eight
vegetable species (36.4% of the tested species)
and the Pb concentrations of 15 vegetable
species (68.2% of the tested species) exceed the
maximum level (ML) of the tolerance limit of
contaminants in foods in the China National
Standards, respectively. It indicates that the
situation of heavy metal pollution in vegetables
is very serious in the Hunan province, and local
residents are easily affected by the adverse
effects of heavy metals via the consumption of
vegetables.
Vegetables vary in their ability to
accumulate heavy metals. The heavy metal
concentrations of the five different vegetable
types are shown in Table 2. Obvious
differences were found in the concentrations of
Cd and Pb of the five vegetable types. The
concentrations of the five vegetable types
decreased in the order of leafy vegetables/stem
vegetables > root vegetables > solanaceous
vegetables > melon vegetables for Cd and Pb.
Consequently, the concentrations of Cd and Pb
in leafy vegetables and stem vegetables were
significantly higher than that in melon
vegetables (p < 0.05). Yang et al. (2010)
reported that Cd uptake and accumulation in
leafy vegetables are greater than in non-leafy
vegetables. In this study, Taro and Leek had
higher concentrations of Cd and Pb (Table 2),
and were classed as “high accumulators” (Yang
et al. 2010). Lower concentrations of Cd and
Pb were found in cucumber and asparagus
lettuce (Table 2), which were classed as “low
accumulators” (Yang et al., 2010). This
suggested that the low accumulators were
suitable for being planted on contaminated soil,
while the high accumulators were unsuitable
(Grant et al., 2008). The strong ability for Cd
and Pb accumulation in leafy vegetables were
possibly due to the leaves being the main parts
of the vegetables used for photosynthesis,
because higher metal mass flowed to the leaves
due to strong transpiration (Liu et al., 2010;
Salt et al., 1995). Different from leafy
vegetables, melon and solanaceous vegetables
have low rates of transpiration, like grains and
fruits (Huang et al., 2015).
Among different areas, there is no
significant difference (p > 0.05) in Cd
concentration, while there is a significant
difference (p < 0.05) in Pb concentration (Table
4). The average concentrations of Cd and Pb
were 0.041 and 0.116, 0.039 and 0.242, 0.038
and 0.221, and 0.055 and 0.137 mg/kg for the
Yanfeng, Zhengxiang, Shigu, and Zhuhui
district, respectively (Table 4). Among different
areas, the concentrations of the vegetables
decreased in the order of Zhuhui district >
Yanfeng district > Zhengxiang district > Shigu
district for Cd, Zhengxiang district > Shigu
district > Zhuhui district > Yanfeng district for
Pb.
3.2. Health assessment of Cd and Pb in
vegetables
The EDI of Cd from vegetable
consumption in Hengyang was 0.266, and
0.339 μg/(kg bw•d) for adults and children,
respectively (Table 5). In comparison, the EDI
of Cd from vegetables was lower in Beijing and
Tianjin of China, Santiago of Chile, and Samta
of Bangladesh, but higher in Huludao of China
and the lower north of Thailand (Table 5).
Approximately 24% of the total daily dietary
intake of Cd comes from vegetable
consumption (Zhang and Gao, 2003). The EDI
of cadmium from total dietary consumption
corresponded to 33.9% and 26.6% of the PTDI
(1 μg/(kg bw•d)) for children and adults,
respectively. In comparison, the intake of Pb
from vegetables in Hengyang was higher than
in Tianjin, Beijing and Huludao for children
and adults. Comparing with other countries, the
estimated dietary exposure of Pb in vegetables
from Hengyang was below that of the lower
north of Thailand, but above that of Santiago of
Chile and Samta of Bangladesh (Table 5). A
total of 35.3% of the total daily dietary intake
of Pb comes from vegetable consumption in
China (Zhang and Gao, 2003). At this level, the
EDI of Pb from total dietary intake accounted
for 39.2% and 30.8% of the PTDI (3.6 μg/(kg
bw•d)) for children and adults, respectively.
Chronic low-level intake of toxic metal
elements has an adverse effect on human
health, and the detrimental impact becomes
apparent after several years of exposure
(Bortey-Sam et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2005). The
target hazard quotient (THQ) method was used
to assess the potential health risks of heavy
metal accumulation through vegetable
consumption in this study. The THQ of Cd and
Pb through consumption of vegetables for the
residents (adults and children) from four
districts were derived and listed in Table 6.
Since vegetables produced in the surrounding
districts are randomly sold for the residents,
averaged heavy metal concentrations of
vegetables are used for calculation of the THQ
for the residents. Among Cd and Pb, the THQ
of Cd for the residents (adults and children) in
the Yanfeng and Zhuhui districts was higher
than that of Pb, while the Zhengxiang and
Shigu districts were just the opposite. It
indicated that vegetables contaminated by Cd
will have a relatively higher potential health
risks in the Yanfeng and Zhuhui districts, while
vegetables contaminated by Pb will have a
relatively higher potential health risks in the
Zhengxiang and Shigu districts. It is shown that
there are no THQ values over 1 through the
consumption of vegetables, suggesting that
health risks associated with heavy metals
exposure is insignificant.
The total THQ (TTHQ) due to
consumption of vegetables in four districts is
shown in Figure 1. It has been reported that
exposure to two or more pollutants may result
in additive and/or interactive effects
(Hallenbeck, 1993). In this study, the TTHQ is
treated as the mathematical sum of each
individual metal THQ for vegetables derived by
the method of Wang et al. (2005). The TTHQ
for children from individual areas approaches 1
(Figure 1), noting specifically the Zhengxiang
district (0.80). This indicates that the children
from four districts are already experiencing the
adverse health effects. Additionally, for special
populations, such as those that were sensitive,
those with a weak constitution, and women that
were pregnant, the potential health risks of
heavy metal through vegetable consumption
were likely to be higher than for the normal
population (Zhou et al., 2016). The discrepancy
of the TTHQ for various districts may be
attributed to the significantly different
contributions of Pb. The maximum value of
TTHQ by vegetables consumptions for adults
and children from the Zhengxiang district is
2.08 and 2.09 times higher than the Yanfeng
district, respectively.
The models are typically based on the
THQ method, which employed in this
investigation provide useful tools for the
assessment of non-cancer risk to human health
(Iwegbue, 2015; Bortey-Sam et al., 2015).
However, there are inherent uncertainties in
application of these tools due to actual body
weight, ingestion rate, exposure duration, and
reference oral dose of pollutants (Lei et al.,
2015). The significantly different THQ values
for adults and children were due to the
differences in ingestion rate and body weight
between adults and children in this study (Table
6). Though we only considered exposure to
heavy metals through vegetable consumption,
other avenues of exposure such as consumption
of other contaminated food, drinking
contaminated water and direct ingestion of soil
may also contribute to the estimated daily
intake. Therefore, measurement of heavy
metals in a complete diet over a specified
period is recommended (Mahmood et al.,
2015).
4. Conclusions
Determination of Cd and Pb concentrations
in vegetables was carried out in this study. The
results obtained show that the Cd
concentrations of 12 vegetable samples (8.5%
of the tested samples), the Pb concentrations of
51 vegetable samples (35.9% of the tested
samples), exceeded the maximum level (ML)
of the tolerance limit of contaminants in foods
from China (GB2762-2012). The
concentrations of heavy metals in the
vegetables decreased in the order of leafy
vegetables/stem vegetables > root vegetables >
solanaceous vegetables > melon vegetables.
The health risks posed by exposure to heavy
metals to the local inhabitants of Hengyang,
China, through the consumption of vegetables
were investigated based on estimated target
hazard quotients (THQ). The results show THQ
values are less than 1 for both adults and
children by consuming vegetables, and further
suggest health risks involving a single heavy
metal are not significant. The estimated total
THQ of children from the Zhengxiang district
approaches 1, which signifies potential health
risks associated with the consumption of
vegetables. The THQ of Cd for the residents
(adults and children) in the Yanfeng and Zhuhui
districts was higher than that of Pb, while the
Zhengxiang and Shigu districts were just the
opposite. The discrepancy of the TTHQ for
various districts may be attributed to the
significantly different contributions of Pb. The
maximum value of TTHQ by vegetable
consumptions for adults and children from the
Zhengxiang district is 2.08 and 2.09 times
higher than the Yanfeng district, respectively.
Long-term Cd and Pb exposure by regular
consumption of vegetables in the study area
poses potential health problems to residents.
Therefore, it is necessary that certified agencies
monitor and evaluate the heavy metal levels in
vegetables regularly.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by National
Natural Science Foundation of China (no.
41401368), and Hunan Provincial Natural
Science Foundation of China (no.
2015JJ6033).

Figure Captions:
Figure 1. Total metal THQ values due to
consumption of vegetables. Ad: adults; Ch:
children.