Health risk assessment due to heavy metals and nitrates in greenhouse okra of Kermanshah county

Considering the importance of okra consumption, controlling of heavy elements’ concentration nitrate in foodstuffs is important to ensure the safety of an individual’s health. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of studying the concentration of heavy metals and nitrates in greenhouse okra one of the greenhouses in Kermanshah county.

Sampling was done from the okra greenhouse of Kermanshah county in three stages with a time interval of 2 weeks and with a total of 9 samples. The concentrations of heavy metals were evaluated with an atomic absorption spectrometer. To evaluate the risk of consuming vegetables for human health, the health risk index (HRI) of non-cancerous diseases was used.

A significant difference was observed between the three harvest dates of okra with nickel, copper, zinc, iron, cadmium, lead and nitrate, and with the increase in the growth rate of the plant and the number of harvests, the concentration of studied heavy metals and nitrate decreased. The highest amount of nickel (1.386 mgkg-1), copper (16.393 mgkg-1), zinc (54.500 mgkg-1), lead (1.880 mgkg-1), iron (105.887 mgkg-1), cadmium (0.0710 mgkg-1) and nitrate (31.000 mgkg-1) were observed in the first harvest. The concentration of all studied heavy metals, except lead, was lower than the WHO standard. HRI for non-cancerous diseases was less than one for the studied metals and nitrate. As a result, consumption of greenhouse okra in the greenhouse of Kermanshah county does not pose a problem for human health

There is no concern about the non-carcinogenic diseases and carcinogenic risk of consuming heavy metals in okra. Therefore, for optimal management and prevention of further pollution, it is recommended to study the origin and determine the amounts of heavy metals for their potential contamination of foodstuffs from the region’s soil, water, and dust.