Heavy metals in Legumes

Legumes overview

Legumes in the HMI library has 1,378 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, Ca, Hg, I, K, Mg, Mo, Na, Sr, Ti and Tl from 90 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 →3Abdolahpour Alamdari H, Sleman Ali H, Sadighara P, Jahed Khaniki G, Shahsavanpoor Landeh K, Dehghani MH · 2023The health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables grown in Babol city, IranInternational Archives of Health SciencesRead source →4ANSES · 2026Opinion of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on the results of the Third French Total Diet Study (TDS3) - Acrylamide, aluminium, silver, cadmium, mercury and leadANSES Opinion, Request No 2019-SA-0010Read source →5Unknown authors · 2024Detection of Heavy Metals in Some EdiblePeer-reviewed articleRead source →6Banyen S · 2013Anodic Stripping Voltammetry for Simultaneous Determination of Heavy Metals in VegetablesKMITL Science Journal (Ladkrabang) 22(1), January-June 2556 B.E., pp. 84-99Read source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in legumes, as sold from 6,059 results in 5 reporting regions, with subgroup medians from 1.1 to 430 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, legumes, canned had a median lead result below 4 µg/kg across 3 composites from 2018–2020.^{2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →}

Across 12 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis ranged from 4.5 µg/kg (Yu et al. 2023) to 12,600 µg/kg (Chowdhury et al. 2024).^{7Yu S, Pan XD, Han JL · 2023Toxic Elements in Beans from Zhejiang, Southeast China: Distribution and Probabilistic Health Risk AssessmentFoodsRead source →8Chowdhury AI, Shill LC, Raihan MM, Rashid R, Bhuiyan MNH, Reza S, Alam MR · 2024Human health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables of BangladeshScientific Reports 2024, 14: 15616Read source →} For cadmium, 18 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 2 µg/kg (Guerra et al. 2012) to 300 µg/kg (Korfali et al. 2013).^{9Guerra 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 →10Korfali SI, Abou Hamdan W · 2013Essentail and Toxic Metals in Lebanese Marketed Canned Food: Impact of Metal CansJournal of Food Research 2(1) (2013) 19-30Read source →}

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

What counts as legumes

This page covers legumes in 6 forms kept separate in every comparison: legumes, as sold (1,013 results), legumes, canned (164 results), legumes, dried (137 results), legumes, frozen (32 results), legumes, cooked (29 results) and legumes, oil (3 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 →3Abdolahpour Alamdari H, Sleman Ali H, Sadighara P, Jahed Khaniki G, Shahsavanpoor Landeh K, Dehghani MH · 2023The health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables grown in Babol city, IranInternational Archives of Health SciencesRead source →4ANSES · 2026Opinion of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on the results of the Third French Total Diet Study (TDS3) - Acrylamide, aluminium, silver, cadmium, mercury and leadANSES Opinion, Request No 2019-SA-0010Read source →5Unknown authors · 2024Detection of Heavy Metals in Some EdiblePeer-reviewed articleRead source →6Banyen S · 2013Anodic Stripping Voltammetry for Simultaneous Determination of Heavy Metals in VegetablesKMITL Science Journal (Ladkrabang) 22(1), January-June 2556 B.E., pp. 84-99Read 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 legumes

The table holds every extracted legumes result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 1,378 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 →3Abdolahpour Alamdari H, Sleman Ali H, Sadighara P, Jahed Khaniki G, Shahsavanpoor Landeh K, Dehghani MH · 2023The health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables grown in Babol city, IranInternational Archives of Health SciencesRead source →4ANSES · 2026Opinion of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on the results of the Third French Total Diet Study (TDS3) - Acrylamide, aluminium, silver, cadmium, mercury and leadANSES Opinion, Request No 2019-SA-0010Read source →5Unknown authors · 2024Detection of Heavy Metals in Some EdiblePeer-reviewed articleRead source →6Banyen S · 2013Anodic Stripping Voltammetry for Simultaneous Determination of Heavy Metals in VegetablesKMITL Science Journal (Ladkrabang) 22(1), January-June 2556 B.E., pp. 84-99Read 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 →}

273 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 62 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 65 values from 16 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{3Abdolahpour Alamdari H, Sleman Ali H, Sadighara P, Jahed Khaniki G, Shahsavanpoor Landeh K, Dehghani MH · 2023The health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables grown in Babol city, IranInternational Archives of Health SciencesRead source →5Unknown authors · 2024Detection of Heavy Metals in Some EdiblePeer-reviewed articleRead source →7Yu S, Pan XD, Han JL · 2023Toxic Elements in Beans from Zhejiang, Southeast China: Distribution and Probabilistic Health Risk AssessmentFoodsRead source →11Alsabagh AAA · 2025Assessment of heavy metal and nitrate contamination in canned products from local markets in BaghdadAlnakhla Journal of ScienceRead source →12Chen J, Chen J, Li M, Feng P, Qin M, Chen T, Luo S, Zhao J, Yan X, Chen J, Lian X, Zhang H, Huo J · 2025Probabilistic assessment of the cumulative risk from dietary heavy metal exposure in Chongqing, China using a hazard-driven approachScientific Reports 15:2229Read source →13Kawsar 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 →14Ahn, Timothy, Chaney, Rufus L., DiBartolomeis, Michael J., Ramtahal, Gideon · 2022Expert Investigation Related to Cocoa and Chocolate Products: Final ReportExpert Committee report submitted to As You Sow and the Settling Defendants under a California Proposition 65 Consent Judgment; Project Manager: Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG). Final Report dated March 28, 2022 (381 pp., including three technical attachments).Read source →15Cherfi A, Abdoun S, Gaci O · 2014Food survey: Levels and potential health risks of chromium, lead, zinc and copper content in fruits and vegetables consumed in AlgeriaFood and Chemical ToxicologyRead source →16Liang 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 →17Usman MI, Gadaka MA, Maazu AB · 2021Evaluation of Some Toxic Heavy Metals in Rice and Beans Samples Cultivated in Yobe State, Nigeria.East African Journal of Health and Science 2021, 3(1): 145-151Read source →18Mahaffey KR, Corneliussen PE, Jelinek CF, Fiorino JA · 1975Heavy Metal Exposure from FoodsEnvironmental Health PerspectivesRead source →19Kharkwal V, Choudhary M, Bains K, Bishnoi M · 2023Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk assessment of heavy metals in cooked beans and vegetables in Punjab, North IndiaFood Science & NutritionRead source →20Wu Z · 2024Contamination of Heavy Metal(Loid)S in Cereals, Vegetables, and Legumes Purchased from Local Markets of Jiaozuo, China and The Associated Health Risk AssessmentInternational Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, 2(1): 180-200Read source →21Valizadeh Moghadam Jirandehi H, Nourieh N, Yazdanfar N, Kashi G · 2023Health Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in Canned Pinto Beans and Fava Beans Distributed in Gilan Province of IranScientific Reports (published 2023; open access)Read source →22Imongben 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 →23Bulduk Ibrahim · 2020Determination of trace element levels in flowers and leaves of vicia faba by ICP-MSProgress in Chemical and Biochemical ResearchRead source →}