Overview
Source-grounded narrative on this page is populated incrementally from the routed source pages; values for analytes marked as data gap below have not yet accumulated 2+ A-tier contributing sources.
Heavy metal contamination profile
Per-analyte snapshot derived from the machine-readable contamination_profile in the frontmatter above. data gap indicates the literature has been reviewed for this commodity-analyte combination and no usable occurrence data was found (a finding, not a placeholder). The Key sources column shows the top 2-3 contributing sources by year and sample size, with numbered wikilink aliases.
| Analyte | Coverage | Typical (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | n=3 | 5–35 | medium | — |
| Cd | n=3 | 5–42 | medium | — |
| iAs | data gap | — | — | — |
| tAs | data gap | — | — | — |
| tHg | data gap | — | — | — |
| Ni | n=4 | 813–3094 | medium | — |
| Al | data gap | — | — | — |
| Cr | data gap | — | — | — |
| Sn | data gap | — | — | — |
| U | data gap | — | — | — |
References
Works cited in this page’s text, in first-appearance order. This is not the full corpus for this page; it is only what the prose above draws on. The complete set of sources is listed under Sources below. Each title links to its source record, which carries the ingest receipt, the extracted values, and the file hash of the document it was built from.
Sources
Auto-generated from source-page frontmatter. The "Used on this page for" column is populated by the orchestrator's POPULATE-SOURCE-LEGEND action; pending entries appear as *[awaiting synthesis]*.
| # | Citation | Year | Type | Used on this page for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hernández-Montoya et al. 2026. Heavy Metal Contamination in Foods: Advances in Detection Technologies, Regulatory Challenges, Health Risks, and Implications for Sustainable Food Safety, Sustainability | 2026 | Peer-reviewed | international/EU/US Pb, Cd, tAs, tHg, MeHg, Ni occurrence in Scoping review of 121 peer-reviewed studies (Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Wiley Online Library, Google Scholar; published… |
| 2 | Han et al. 2024. Occurrence and Exposure Assessment of Nickel in Zhejiang Province, China, Toxics | 2024 | Peer-reviewed | CN Ni occurrence in Zhejiang Province residents, 11 cities, 2018–2019; n=19,000 in consumption survey (n=2628) |
| 3 | Jaudenes-Marrero et al. 2024. Analysis of toxic element levels and health risks in different soybean species (Glycine max, Vigna radiata, Vigna angularis, Vigna mungo), Nutrients | 2024 | Peer-reviewed | ES/IT Al, Cd, Pb, Ni, Cr, Co, Ba, Li, Sr, V occurrence in Ninety retail samples of four edible bean species marketed as soybean-type foods, purchased in Spain and Italy and… (n=90) |
| 4 | Wu 2024. Contamination of Heavy Metal(Loid)S in Cereals, Vegetables, and Legumes Purchased from Local Markets of Jiaozuo, China and The Associated Health Risk Assessment, International Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, 2(1): 180-200 | 2024 | Peer-reviewed | CN Pb, Cd, Cr, tAs, tHg, Ni, Cu, Zn occurrence in 244 retail food samples purchased from 13 sampling points (6 supermarkets, 6 farmers’ markets, 1 wholesale market) across… (n=244) |
| 5 | Kharkwal et al. 2023. Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic health risk assessment of heavy metals in cooked beans and vegetables in Punjab, North India, Food Science & Nutrition | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | IN tAs, Cd, Pb, tHg occurrence in Cooked beans and cooked vegetable preparations collected from 150 selected households across 30 urban and rural locations in… (n=150) |
| 6 | USDA 2023. China Releases the Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods (USDA FAS GAIN Report CH2023-0040, unofficial translation of GB 2762-2022), USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN), Report Number CH2023-0040 | 2023 | Regulation | CN Pb, Cd, tHg, MeHg, tAs, iAs, Sn, Ni, Cr occurrence in null |
| 7 | Woreta et al. 2023. Occurrence and accumulation of metals in lupine seeds in Ethiopia, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | ET Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb occurrence in Lupine seed samples collected October-December 2020 from three sampling sites in each of four South Gondar Zone districts… (n=12) |
| 8 | Yu et al. 2023. Toxic Elements in Beans from Zhejiang, Southeast China: Distribution and Probabilistic Health Risk Assessment, Foods | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | CN tAs, Cd, Cr, tHg, Pb occurrence in Black bean, broad bean, mung bean, soybean, red bean, kidney bean, and pea samples purchased from local commercial… (n=692) |
| 9 | Bair 2022. A Narrative Review of Toxic Heavy Metal Content of Infant and Toddler Foods and Evaluation of United States Policy, Frontiers in Nutrition | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | US/EU tAs, iAs, Pb, Cd, tHg occurrence in Narrative review; no original measurements. Synthesizes US Congressional Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy findings (Feb 2021 and… |
| 10 | Zhao et al. 2022. Exposure to Lead and Cadmium in the Sixth Total Diet Study — China, 2016–2019, China CDC Weekly | 2022 | Government report | CN Pb, Cd occurrence in 288 composite samples from the 24 provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) of the Sixth China Total Diet Study, covering… (n=288) |
| 11 | TatahMentan et al. 2020. Toxic and Essential Elements in Rice and Other Grains from the United States and Other Countries, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health | 2020 | Peer-reviewed | US/CA/TH tAs, Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn occurrence in Rice and other grains purchased from local stores in Louisiana, USA: 28 white rice samples, 11 brown rice… |
| 12 | Alam et al. 2019. Arsenic accumulation in lentil (Lens culinaris) genotypes and risk associated with the consumption of grains, Scientific Reports | 2019 | Peer-reviewed | US tAs occurrence in Controlled greenhouse pot experiment at Washington State University using three lentil genotypes (pardina, red chief, and precoz), three… (n=81) |
| 13 | Hussain et al. 2019. Arsenic and Heavy Metal (Cadmium, Lead, Mercury and Nickel) Contamination in Plant-Based Foods, Plant and Human Health, Volume 2 | 2019 | Book chapter | GLOBAL tAs, Cd, Pb, tHg, Ni occurrence in Review chapter compiling published occurrence ranges for arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel in plant-based foods including cereal… |
| 14 | Al et al. 2018. Environmental exposure assessment of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc in different Palestinian canned foods, Agriculture & Food Security 7:50 | 2018 | Peer-reviewed | PS Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn occurrence in 16 canned food samples (4 brand-product combinations each of beans, chickpeas, corn, mushroom) purchased from a single supermarket… (n=16) |
| 15 | Song et al. 2017. Dietary cadmium exposure assessment among the Chinese population, PLoS ONE 12(5): e0177978 | 2017 | Peer-reviewed | CN Cd occurrence in 228,687 food samples collected from supermarkets, local markets, and field harvest sites across 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and… (n=228687) |
| 16 | Ataee et al. 2016. Application of microwave-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry for ultra-trace determination of lead and cadmium in cereals and agricultural products, International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry 96(3):271-283 | 2016 | Peer-reviewed | IR Pb, Cd occurrence in 21 cereal composites (7 grain types — rice, wheat, barley, peas, beans, corn, lentil — × 3 local… (n=21) |
| 17 | X-D et al. 2016. Levels and potential health risk of heavy metals in marketed vegetables in Zhejiang, China, Scientific Reports | 2016 | Peer-reviewed | CN tAs, Cd, Cr, tHg, Ni, Pb occurrence in Five thousand seven hundred eighty-five vegetable samples of 28 species collected from Zhejiang province, China, from March to… (n=5785) |
| 18 | EFSA 2015. Scientific Opinion on the risks to public health related to the presence of nickel in food and drinking water, EFSA Journal 2015;13(2):4002, 202 pp. | 2015 | Government report | EU Ni occurrence in 18,885 food samples and 25,700 drinking water samples from 15 European countries (2003–2012) (n=18885) |
| 19 | Khan et al. 2015. The uptake and bioaccumulation of heavy metals by food plants, their effects on plants nutrients, and associated health risk: a review, Environmental Science and Pollution Research | 2015 | Review | Pb, Cd, tAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Zn, Cu occurrence in Narrative review of global literature on heavy metal accumulation in food plants |
| 20 | Pirsaheb et al. 2015. Essential and toxic heavy metals in cereals and agricultural products marketed in Kermanshah, Iran, and human health risk assessment, Food Additives & Contaminants: Part B, Surveillance | 2015 | Peer-reviewed | IR Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu occurrence in 150 packed cereal samples representing 7 commodity types (rice, wheat, corn, peas, lentil, bean, split peas) collected from… (n=150) |
| 21 | Islam et al. 2014. Heavy Metals in Cereals and Pulses: Health Implications in Bangladesh, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry | 2014 | Peer-reviewed | BD Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, tAs, Cd, Pb occurrence in Composite samples of rice, wheat, maize, lentil, and black gram collected from agricultural fields in the Bogra district… (n=144) |
| 22 | Centre for Food Safety 2013. The First Hong Kong Total Diet Study: Metallic Contaminants, Centre for Food Safety, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | 2013 | Government report | HK Al, Sb, Cd, Pb, MeHg, Ni, Sn occurrence in Hong Kong general adult population; 150 TDS food items purchased on 4 occasions (March 2010 to February 2011),… (n=1800) |
| 23 | Centre for Food Safety 2012. The First Hong Kong Total Diet Study: Inorganic Arsenic, Centre for Food Safety, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region | 2012 | Government report | HK iAs, tAs occurrence in Hong Kong adult population aged 20-84; composite samples from 150 TDS food items collected on four occasions March… (n=600) |
| 24 | Uneyama et al. 2007. Arsenic in various foods: Cumulative data, Food Additives & Contaminants | 2007 | Peer-reviewed | JP/US/GB tAs, iAs occurrence in Cumulative review of arsenic measurements in food from PubMed, Japanese local-authority research databases, and national food-safety surveillance reports;… |
| 25 | Mahaffey et al. 1975. Heavy Metal Exposure from Foods, Environmental Health Perspectives | 1975 | Peer-reviewed | US Pb, Cd, tHg, tAs, Zn, Se occurrence in US FDA Total Diet Study (Market Basket Survey), FY 1968–1974. 30 market baskets per year purchased from retail… |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Legumes (Fabaceae: beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, soybeans, peanuts) are members of a plant family that fixes atmospheric nitrogen through symbiotic root-nodule bacteria. The high root-system activity that supports nitrogen fixation also brings the legume into more aggressive interaction with soil cations than non-legumes, leading to elevated uptake of cadmium and aluminum from acidic soils relative to non-leguminous crops. Soybean is the canonical legume aluminum-accumulator (cultivated on acid agricultural soils that mobilize Al into bioavailable form); peanut is the canonical legume nickel-accumulator. Other common legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas) carry lower per-mass loads of these metals but follow the same family-level pattern.
Per-species variance within legumes is large. The Cat 4 Step 0 lock recognizes this by splitting legumes-pulses into a baseline row plus higher-contamination row rows for soy and peanut specifically (see Soy Products, Peanuts, Legumes and Pulses, Other).
The HMTc panel concerns for legumes are Al (soy-elevated), Ni (peanut-elevated), Cd (broadly elevated relative to most non-leguminous crops), and Pb (generally low except in contaminated soils).
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Per-species: Soybean carries the highest Al; peanut carries the highest Ni. Common beans (kidney, pinto, black, navy, cannellini), lentils, and chickpeas carry moderate Cd and lower Al/Ni. Peas (yellow, green, split) carry the lowest panel-metal loads in the legume category. Soy, Peanuts, Peanut butter address the higher-contamination row variants in detail.
Geographic and production-system variance: Legumes grown on acidic agricultural soils with phosphate-fertilizer history (parts of US Midwest, Brazil, Argentina, parts of EU) carry higher Cd than legumes from cleaner soils. Conventional vs organic agronomic systems show some variance driven by fertilizer source rather than organic certification per se.
Processing effects
Legume processing (cleaning, soaking, cooking, fermenting, milling, extracting) affects metals through several pathways:
Soaking and discarding soak water removes a small fraction of surface-bound metals and some water-soluble fraction. Multi-soak protocols reduce Cd modestly.
Cooking does not change total per-mass metal load. Pressure cooking, boiling, and stewing all yield similar finished metal content. Cooking-water-discard removes a fraction; for dried legumes prepared with absorption-method cooking (no discard), the metal load is conserved.
Fermentation (tempeh from soybeans, miso, natto, fermented bean pastes) does not appreciably change total Cd or Al but may shift bioavailability through phytate reduction.
Milling and dehulling redistribute metals between the seed coat (high-Cd) and the cotyledon (lower-Cd) similar to grain bran-vs-endosperm. Dehulled lentils and split peas carry slightly less Cd than whole equivalents.
Protein extraction (soy protein isolate, pea protein isolate) yields concentrated per-mass metals because protein and metals partition together; soy protein isolate carries elevated Al relative to whole soybean.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Legume-derived derivatives that concentrate metals: soy protein isolate (Al-concentrated), pea protein isolate, lentil protein concentrate, chickpea flour, bean flour. These derivatives route to Cat 16 row 20 when sold as supplements.
Legume-based finished products: hummus (chickpea-based, inherits chickpea metal load), bean dips, tempeh and natto (soy-based, inherit soy metal load), refried beans (cooked bean-based), and processed legume-based meat alternatives.
Soy lecithin (a soy-derived emulsifier) carries some Al from source soy and is used widely in chocolate, baked goods, and other processed products.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (Supply-chain screening) include single-origin sourcing from low-Cd-Al-Ni production regions, supplier-soil-pH verification, and avoidance of Cd-elevated production zones.
Agronomic levers (Agronomic mitigation) apply at the legume-production stage: soil pH management (liming acidic soils reduces Cd and Al bioavailability), cultivar selection (low-Cd-accumulator cultivars identified in soy, common bean, and lentil), and avoidance of high-Cd phosphate fertilizers.
Processing levers (Processing mitigation) include soak-and-discard protocols, cooking-water-discard, dehulling (removes some seed-coat Cd), and protein-extraction-method specification.
Formulation levers (Formulation mitigation) include species substitution (substituting peas or chickpeas for soy in target-low-Al products), legume-percentage adjustment in compounded products, and isolate vs whole-legume formulation choice.
Testing and QC levers (Testing and quality-control mitigation) include lot-level Cd, Al, and Ni testing on incoming legume shipments. See ICP-MS — Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Packaging and storage levers (Packaging and storage mitigation) include the Sn-migration consideration for canned legume products (canned beans, baked beans).
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets maximum levels for Cd and Pb in legumes and pulses. Soy and certain oilseeds carry separate Cd MLs reflecting their accumulator behavior.
- Codex CXS 193-1995 — sets Cd and Pb MLs for pulses; specific commodity values where established.
- FDA does not maintain binding action levels for legumes specifically.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies to legume-containing products sold in California.
Update history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.
| Commit | Date | Change | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| a8052bb | 2026-08-09 | major | 1 source added; 11 sections added; narrative text revised |