A study on the heavy metals (lead, cadmium) concentration in Vegetables used in Mashhad, 2011

fruits and vegetables are an important part of human diet after cereal. One of the concerns of today's world is heavy metal contamination of agricultural products. In this study, heavy metals, lead and cadmium were studied in the edible parts of mint, leek, and scallion, radish, in two areas (East and West) of Mashhad. This study was descriptive – analytical. During the first six months, three samples from each area and vegetable were collected. The amounts of heavy metals were determined by graphite atomic absorption Varian model, after acid digestion of the samples. The data were analyzed using tests of Post Hoc with significance level 0/05. The results indicated that the average maximum and minimum lead concentration with 95% acceptable level was observed in Leek (33/88mg / kg), radish (mg / kg24/45) respectively and for cadmium in Leek (0/83mg/kg) and scallion (0/46mg/kg). The comparison between the East and the West planting vegetables in the city of Mashhad showed that average lead concentration (42/13mg/kg)and cadmium (mg/kg0/89) were related to the East. In contrast Sample times, highest concentrations of lead and cadmium were observed in scallion (58/71mg / kg) and leek (2/99mg / kg) in August respectively. The average concentration of cadmium in types of studied vegetables was in proposed standard limits for plant (0/2, 0/8 mg/kg) but concentration of lead was higher than standard (0/1, 10mg/kg).