Evaluation of heavy metals concentration in strawberry (Case study:Agricultural lands of Sanandaj)

Contaminants are damaging factors of the ecosystems. Amongst, heavy metals are due to their toxicity, persistence and bio-accumulation are of great concern even in low concentrations. Kurdistan province with an annual production of 30,000 tons of strawberry produces 88 percent of the strawberry in Iran. In this study, 25 samples were obtained randomly from soil (depth of 0-30 cm), leaf and strawberry crop of all five existing farms located on the road of Sanandaj to Kamyaran. The samples were transported to laboratory and acid digestion was performed on the samples. Afterwards, the quantity of cadmium, arsenic, lead, zinc and copper were measured using atomic emission device. The results revealed that metal concentrations of cadmium, zinc and copper (0.01, 6.03, 13.67 mg/kg, respectively) were lower than the standards of FAO/WHO. Meanwhile the concentrations of heavy metals of arsenic and lead (36.88, 3.57 mg/kg, respectively) were higher than the defined standards (with 95% confidence level). It seems that the overuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is the main cause of heavy metal contaminations in the strawberry farms.