Parsley
Completeness scorecard
Deterministic gap audit — no score is composite, no cell is LLM-judged. Each chip is re-derivable by re-running tools/evidence/build-ingredient-scorecard.mjs. review: residuals and missing data are worked autonomously via data/evidence/ingredient-scorecard-review-flags.csv and wiki/completeness-gaps.md.
| Dimension | Status | What’s there (auditable counts) | What’s missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Analyte coverage (tier: unset) | GAP | 2/10 HMTc analytes, total n=4 | only 2/10 analytes have evidence |
| D2 Regional coverage | OK | 7 jurisdictions, top IR 25% | — |
| D3 Anthropogenic evidence | GAP | 1 agricultural-soil + 1 irrigation-water; no supply-chain link | link a supply-chain/ hub page |
| D4 Background mechanism | OK | section present, 3 drivers, 1 upstream source(s) | — |
| D5 Pooling depth | THIN | Pb THIN, Cd THIN | Pb: needs 1 more study(ies); Cd: needs 1 more study(ies) |
| D6 Speciation | OK | iAs, tAs, tHg declared | — |
| D7 Basis declaration | GAP | 0/10 populated cells declare a basis token | 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, U |
| D8 Provenance integrity | GAP | 2 claims checked, 2 supported; 3 citations, 0 orphan, 1 foreign | 1 foreign citation(s) not naming parsley: codex-cxs-193-1995 |
| D9 Mitigation | GAP | 0 cited lever(s), 6 mitigation/ link(s) | section present but no source-cited lever |
| D10 Regulatory coverage | OK | 2 rule link(s), 0 metal(s) covered | unmapped analytes: Pb, Cd |
| D11 Standards-readiness | NOT-READY | priority: Pb, Cd; pairing 0 paired, 2 single, 0 unpaired | Pb: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); Cd: THIN, needs 1 more study(ies); basis: 10 populated cell(s) lack a basis token: Pb, Cd, iAs, tAs, tHg, Ni, Al, Cr, Sn, U; consumption tier unset (depth bar uncheckable) |
| Principle balance | OK | consumer-protection 0.50, contamination-reduction 0.00, brand-value 0.50, legal-defensibility 0.50, scale 0.25 | — |
Source-grounded narrative on this page is populated incrementally from the routed source pages per CLAUDE.md Part 9; 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) | p95 (ppb) | Confidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pb | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cd | — | — | — | — | — |
| iAs | — | — | — | — | — |
| tAs | — | — | — | — | — |
| tHg | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ni | — | — | — | — | — |
| Al | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cr | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sn | — | — | — | — | — |
| U | — | — | — | — | — |
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 | Dearing et al. 2025. Assessment of Heavy Metals in Organic and Non-Organic Vegetables Post Severe Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle: A cross-sectional comparative analysis, F1000Research | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | NZ Cd, Pb, tAs, Ni, Cr, Tl, tHg occurrence in 153 composite representative samples (combined from 736 individual vegetables) sourced from 14 market gardens across 10 growing sites… (n=153) |
| 2 | Masri et al. 2025. Assessing Dietary Consumption of Toxicant-Laden Foods and Beverages by Age and Ethnicity in California: Implications for Proposition 65, Nutrients | 2025 | Peer-reviewed | US Pb, Cd, tAs, MeHg occurrence in Cross-sectional online dietary survey (Qualtrics) administered between 1 March and 15 June 2023 to Southern California residents (adults… (n=186) |
| 3 | Abdolahpour et al. 2023. The health risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables grown in Babol city, Iran, International Archives of Health Sciences | 2023 | Peer-reviewed | IR Pb, Cd occurrence in Eight vegetable types (parsley, spinach, basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, onions, beans) from Babol, Mazandaran Province, northern Iran; 4… (n=32) |
| 4 | Bora et al. 2022. Quantification and Reduction in Heavy Metal Residues in Some Fruits and Vegetables: A Case Study Galați County, Romania, Horticulturae | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | RO/EU tAs, Cd, Pb, Zn occurrence in 80 fruit and vegetable samples from Galați County, Romania (45 from vegetable/fruit market, 35 from amateur farmers), collected… (n=80) |
| 5 | Fischer et al. 2022. The Mercury Concentration in Spice Plants, Processes | 2022 | Peer-reviewed | PL/EU tHg occurrence in Four leafy spice species (peppermint Mentha piperita, basil Ocimum basilicum, lovage Levisticum officinale, parsley Petroselinum crispum). Commercial products… (n=48) |
| 6 | Marinescu et al. 2020. Assessment of heavy metals content in some medicinal plants and spices commonly used in Romania, Farmacia | 2020 | Peer-reviewed | RO tAs, Cd, Cu, Fe, tHg, Pb occurrence in Forty-two Romanian medicinal-plant and spice samples: six medicinal plant species and six culinary spice/herb species, including packaged and… (n=42) |
| 7 | Ghasemidehkordi et al. 2018. Concentration of lead and mercury in collected vegetables and herbs from Markazi province, Iran: a non-carcinogenic risk assessment, Food and Chemical Toxicology 113:204-210 | 2018 | Peer-reviewed | IR Pb, tHg occurrence in Ten species of green leafy vegetables and herbs (Allium ampeloprasum L. [leek], A. wakegi L. [Welsh/Japanese bunching onion],… (n=160) |
| 8 | Dghaim et al. 2015. Determination of Heavy Metals Concentration in Traditional Herbs Commonly Consumed in the United Arab Emirates, Journal of Environmental and Public Health | 2015 | Peer-reviewed | UAE Pb, Cd occurrence in Seven traditional herbs (parsley, basil, sage, oregano, mint, thyme, chamomile) purchased from 13 sources in Dubai markets; fresh… (n=81) |
Why this commodity accumulates heavy metals
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is an Apiaceae leafy herb cultivated globally. As a leafy plant, parsley accumulates Cd and Pb via the leafy-vegetable pathway documented for leafy greens: aerial deposition plus rapid xylem-to-leaf metal transport. The Iranian Babol vegetable survey by Abdolahpour 2023 and the UAE traditional-herb survey by Dghaim 2015 document parsley as an Apiaceae herb sitting at the moderate-to-elevated Pb/Cd end of regional herb-vegetable surveys. Parsley is consumed in much smaller per-serving quantities than spinach or lettuce (typically as garnish, in tabbouleh, in pesto-and-sauce applications), but the per-mass metal load on parsley leaves can be substantial because of the leafy-tissue accumulation pathway. Dried parsley (a common pantry-staple form used in seasoning) concentrates per-mass metals via moisture removal at the typical 8-10× factor for dehydrated herbs.
The HMTc panel concerns for parsley are Pb and Cd at concentrated per-mass levels. Parsley is in Cat 7 spices when dried and incorporated as a culinary seasoning. The data gap in this body table reflects sparse parsley-specific quantitative data; the synthesis is anchored in the Abdolahpour 2023 and Dghaim 2015 regional surveys and the broader leafy-greens and spices corpus.
Ranges by source, region, and variety
Variance within parsley tracks source-region soil profile (industrial-region or urban-garden production carries substantially elevated Pb; commercial herb-farm production sits at moderate baseline), cultivar (curly-leaf parsley, flat-leaf/Italian parsley, Hamburg parsley — Hamburg parsley grown for the root accumulates root-vegetable Pb in the root and leafy-vegetable Pb in the leaves), and growing-system (greenhouse and hydroponic parsley carries lower metals; field-grown sits at baseline). Imported herbs from documented industrial-region production per Dghaim 2015 carry higher per-mass loads than developed-market commercial supply.
Processing effects
Parsley processing for fresh-market consumption involves harvest, washing, and packaging. Industrial dehydration for dried parsley involves washing, drying (typically forced-air drying at 50-65°C), milling, and packaging; dehydration concentrates per-mass metals at the moisture-removal factor. Parsley powder and parsley-flake seasoning products concentrate per-mass metals at the dried-herb baseline. Frozen parsley retains the fresh per-mass profile. Parsley-containing prepared products (tabbouleh, chimichurri, pesto, parsley-pesto, parsley-sauce) dilute the parsley fraction with other ingredients.
Ingredient-derivative risk
Parsley derivatives include fresh parsley, dried parsley (and parsley flakes), parsley powder, frozen parsley, parsley pesto, and parsley-containing prepared sauces and salads. Dried and powdered parsley carry per-mass metals at concentrated levels and should be considered in spice-and-herb compliance contexts. Parsley root (Hamburg parsley) and parsley seed (an Apiaceae spice) carry separate per-derivative profiles. Parsley essential oil partitions metals to non-lipid fractions.
Mitigation options
Sourcing levers (supply-chain-screening) are dominant for parsley as a leafy-herb spice. Source-region soil verification; supplier audit programs for herb farms; greenhouse-and-hydroponic production specification; and contractual Pb/Cd ceiling on incoming parsley supply.
Agronomic levers (agronomic) operate at the parsley-cultivation stage. Soil pH management; soil amendments; cultivar selection; and greenhouse-and-hydroponic production to limit direct soil uptake.
Processing levers (processing) include washing optimization (limited effect because Cd is internalized in leaf tissue); processing-equipment material specification.
Formulation levers (formulation) include substituting parsley with lower-Pb herbs (cilantro, basil) where the matrix permits; reducing the parsley fraction in herb-based seasoning blends.
Testing and QC levers (testing-and-qc) include lot-level Pb, Cd testing on incoming parsley and parsley products. ICP-MS is the standard analytical platform.
Packaging and storage levers (packaging-and-storage) are minor; standard storage-condition specifications apply to dried parsley to prevent moisture re-uptake.
Regulatory limits that apply
- eu-2023-915 — EU Reg. 2023/915 sets maximum levels for Pb in leafy vegetables at 100 ppb (general leafy vegetables); Cd at 200 ppb (general leafy vegetables); these apply to fresh parsley. Dried parsley and parsley powder are covered under the spices category with separate maximum levels.
- FDA Closer to Zero infant-food framework applies to parsley-containing infant products.
- Codex Alimentarius CXS 193-1995 (Codex 1995) sets leafy-vegetable and spice category limits.
- California Prop 65 (california-prop65) Pb MADL applies to parsley products sold in California; the broader spice and herb Prop 65 enforcement context applies to dried-parsley products.
Page history
The five most recent substantive edits to this page. 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 | Description |
|---|---|---|
| b0f3d38 | 2026-06-12 | batch | corpus rescreen b04 old terminal skips |