Heavy metals in Eggplant

Eggplant overview

Eggplant in the HMI library has 303 reported results for lead, cadmium, total arsenic, inorganic arsenic, dimethylarsinic acid, monomethylarsonic acid, total mercury, nickel, chromium, aluminium, tin, antimony, uranium, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, V, Se, Ag, As, B, Ba, Hg, Mo, Sr and Ti from 27 sources.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →4Kawsar Hossen, Nahian Rahman, Zannatul Ferdowsi, Tahmina Ferdous · 2026Assessment of heavy metal levels and associated health risks linked to vegetables grown in Noakhali region of BangladeshEnvironmental Health InsightsRead source →5Ahmed TA · 2024EVALUATION OF HEAVY METALS IN A SELECTION OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN VEGETABLES COLLECTED AT THE ERBIL MARKETMalaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 8(2):80-82Read source →6Al Othman ZA · 2010Lead Contamination in Selected Foods from Riyadh City Market and Estimation of the Daily IntakeMolecules 2010, 15, 7482-7497Read source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in eggplant, as sold from 244 results in 3 reporting regions, with a subgroup median of 5 µg/kg.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →} In the US Total Diet Study, eggplant, cooked had a median lead result below 4 µg/kg across 6 composites from 2017–2018.^{2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →}

Across 8 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on a dry-weight basis ranged from 10 µg/kg (Saleem et al. 2025) to 62,500 µg/kg (Younis et al. 2023).^{8Saleem M, Wang Y, Pierce D, Sens DA, Somji S, Garrett SH · 2025Concentration and Potential Non-Carcinogenic and Carcinogenic Health Risk Assessment of Metals in Locally Grown VegetablesFoodsRead source →9Younis AM, Darwesh DA · 2023Assessment of Heavy Metals in Some Local and Imported Vegetables in Erbil MarketKirkuk Journal of Science 18(4):54-64Read source →} For cadmium, 2 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 11 µg/kg (Spungen et al. 2024) to 40 µg/kg (Guerra et al. 2012).^{3Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →10Spungen JH, et al. · 2024Infants’ and young children’s dietary exposures to lead and cadmium: FDA total diet study 2018-2020Food Additives & Contaminants: Part ARead source →} Higher results came from contaminated or exposed settings rather than ordinary supply. Eggplant, as sold from Location B1 (industrial-affected area) had total mercury higher at 43.4 µg/kg, against 0.43 µg/kg for Control (grocery store >55 km from any power plant) in the same study.^{7Li R, Wu H, Ding J, Fu W, Gan L, Li Y · 2017Mercury pollution in vegetables, grains and soils from areas surrounding coal-fired power plantsScientific ReportsRead source →}

For a buyer the practical points are the form bought, the basis a result is reported on, where the eggplant came from and the laboratory’s reporting limit. Testing finds contamination but does not remove it.

What counts as eggplant

This page covers eggplant in 2 forms kept separate in every comparison: eggplant, as sold (285 results) and eggplant, cooked (18 results).^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →4Kawsar Hossen, Nahian Rahman, Zannatul Ferdowsi, Tahmina Ferdous · 2026Assessment of heavy metal levels and associated health risks linked to vegetables grown in Noakhali region of BangladeshEnvironmental Health InsightsRead source →5Ahmed TA · 2024EVALUATION OF HEAVY METALS IN A SELECTION OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN VEGETABLES COLLECTED AT THE ERBIL MARKETMalaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 8(2):80-82Read source →6Al Othman ZA · 2010Lead Contamination in Selected Foods from Riyadh City Market and Estimation of the Daily IntakeMolecules 2010, 15, 7482-7497Read source →}

Results stay on the basis each source reports: as sold or fresh weight, dry weight, or unstated. Dry-weight, as-sold and unstated results are never pooled, and no moisture conversion is applied.

Heavy metal contamination profile of eggplant

The table holds every extracted eggplant result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 303 rows in all, grouped by metal and form; percentiles, ranges and maxima for the same samples as a mean or median are shown on that row.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →3Guerra F, Trevizam AR, Muraoka T, Marcante NC, Canniatti-Brazaca SG · 2012Heavy metals in vegetables and potential risk for human healthScientia Agricola 69(1):54-60Read source →4Kawsar Hossen, Nahian Rahman, Zannatul Ferdowsi, Tahmina Ferdous · 2026Assessment of heavy metal levels and associated health risks linked to vegetables grown in Noakhali region of BangladeshEnvironmental Health InsightsRead source →5Ahmed TA · 2024EVALUATION OF HEAVY METALS IN A SELECTION OF DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN VEGETABLES COLLECTED AT THE ERBIL MARKETMalaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 8(2):80-82Read source →6Al Othman ZA · 2010Lead Contamination in Selected Foods from Riyadh City Market and Estimation of the Daily IntakeMolecules 2010, 15, 7482-7497Read source →} Monitoring medians are HMI calculations from individual submissions; non-detects remain intervals between zero and the reporting limit and are never read as zero.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

165 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 6 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 13 values from 4 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{4Kawsar Hossen, Nahian Rahman, Zannatul Ferdowsi, Tahmina Ferdous · 2026Assessment of heavy metal levels and associated health risks linked to vegetables grown in Noakhali region of BangladeshEnvironmental Health InsightsRead source →11Liang G, Gong W, Li B, Zuo J, Pan L, Liu X · 2019Analysis of Heavy Metals in Foodstuffs and an Assessment of the Health Risks to the General Public via Consumption in Beijing, ChinaInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public HealthRead source →12Imongben CO, Tomori WB, Umoru PE, Oyerinde WA · 2026Determination of some heavy metals and their potential risk in selected vegetables on sale within Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna State, NigeriaWorld NutritionRead source →13Wadood SA, Sharif MK, Ashraf MN, Ejaz R, Kosar G, Azeem M, Murtaza G · 2021Estimation of Heavy Metals and Associated Health Risk in Selected Vegetables Grown in Peri-Urban Areas of Multan and Rawalpindi, PakistanPakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research Series B: Biological Sciences 64B(1): 55-63 (2021)Read source →}