TITLE:
Levels of Heavy Metals in Some Vegetables and Human Health Risk Assessment in Loumbila Area, Burkina Faso
AUTHORS:
Telado Luc Bambara, Moumouni Derra, Karim Kaboré, Kiswendsida Alain Tougma, Ousmane I. Cissé, Francois Zougmoré
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metal, Concentration, Vegetables, Daily Intake, Hazard Index
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.13 No.9,
September
14,
2023
ABSTRACT: Contamination by heavy metals of soil, water and agricultural products is
currently a major problem of environmental pollution in the world. The
consumption of plants contaminated with heavy metals can be the cause of
diseases such as cancers, the number of cases of which is only growing. The objective
of this study was to determine the concentration of copper (Cu), chromium (Cr),
zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), and cadmium (Cd) in plants from the
vegetable farm of LOUMBILA and the assessment of health risks linked to the
consumption of plants. In this paper, the concentration of heavy metal in
vegetable was measured using the model AANALYST 200 flame atomic absorption
spectrometer from PERKIN ELMER. The level of Zn in the vegetables from Loumbila
vegetable farms ranged between 42.95 mg/kg and 78 mg/kg. The concentrations of
Zn in the studies vegetables were higher than the permissible levels set by
FAO/WHO (20 mg/kg). The concentration Pb in vegetables varied from 1.73 mg/kg
to 27.02 mg/kg. All concentrations of Pb in vegetable were higher than the permissible
levels set by FAO/WHO (0.3 mg/kg). Daily intake of Ni, Cr and Pb was higher than the MTDI, so
consumption of vegetables from Loumbila vegetable farms can lead to health
problems related to Ni, Cr and Pb. In vegetables from LOUMBILA, the estimated
daily intake decreased in the following order: Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni >
Cr. The Hazard index values for carrot, onion, lettuce, green bean and onion
leaves were greater than (>) one (1) which indicates that there might be a
potential health risk to those consuming these vegetables. The Target Cancer
Risk (TCR) analysis also revealed the potential cancer risk induced by Cu, Ni,
Zn, Cr and Pb due to the consumption of carrot, onion leaves, onion, lettuce,
green bean, and bell pepper because their TCR values were above the threshold.