ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Heavy Metals Accumulation in Lettuce and Cherry
Tomatoes Cultivated in Cities
More details
Hide details
1
Graduate Program in Agricultural Engineering and Integral Water Use, Autonomous University of Chapingo,
Carr. México-Texcoco km 38.5, Chapingo, State of Mexico, C. P. 56230, Mexico
2
Faculty of Life Sciences, Albrecht-Daniel-Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Division
Biosystems Engineering, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Albrecht-Thaer-Weg 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Submission date: 2022-08-18
Final revision date: 2022-11-24
Acceptance date: 2022-12-10
Online publication date: 2023-02-27
Publication date: 2023-04-14
Corresponding author
Raquel Salazar-Moreno
Graduate Program in Agricultural Engineering and Integral Water Use, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Km 38.5 Carr. México-Texcoco, 56230, Texcoco, Mexico
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2023;32(3):2293-2308
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Vegetables cultivated in cities, carry the risk of absorbing pollutants generated by anthropogenic
activities, increasing the health risk of those who consume them. Heavy metal concentrations
(As, Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb) were analyzed in water, soil and in plant parts of lettuce (roots and leaves)
and cherry tomatoes (roots, stem, leaves and tomato fruit) lettuce and cherry tomatoes, cultivated
in urban gardens in Mexico City. In none of the studied sites was the heavy metal concentration
in the soil above the permitted limits. In irrigation water, Cr surpassed the permitted limit in 5 sites
and that of Cd in one site. Ni surpassed the established limit for lettuce and cherry tomato in the rank
among 0.7 and 31.15 mg kg-1 in 9 sites, Cr exceeded the allowed limits 1.45-38 mg kg-1 in 11 sites,
As go beyond the established limits between 5-52 mg kg-1 in 4 sites and to a lesser extent, Pb was above
the allowed limits between 15.5 and 26 mg kg-1. According to the translocation factor, lettuce and cherry
tomato could be an important phytoextractors of Cr and Cd respectively. The compound risk value for
lettuce (TTHQ) was greater than one in three sites for lettuce and five sites for cherry tomato. Also,
in gardens A, D, E and J, the Hazard Index (HI) showed a potential risk (HI>1), which reveals the
danger of consuming both vegetables given the conditions of soil, water and air and taking into account
all paths of exposure.