Heavy metals in Potatoes

Potatoes overview

Potatoes in the HMI library has 1,314 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, AsB, AsSug OH, AsSug PO4, AsSug SO3, AsSug SO4, Ba, Ca, Ga, Hg, I, K, Mg, Mo, P, Sr, Ti and Tl from 98 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 →4Alimohammadi M, Younesian M, Madihi-Bidgoli S, Nabizadeh Nodehi R, Jahed Khaniki GR, Hadi M, Ghanbari F · 2018Heavy metal(oid)s concentration in Tehran supermarket vegetables: carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessmentToxin ReviewsRead source →5ANSES · 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 →6Antoine JMR, Hoo Fung LA, Grant CN · 2017Assessment of the potential health risks associated with the aluminium, arsenic, cadmium and lead content in selected fruits and vegetables grown in JamaicaToxicology Reports 4 (2017) 181-187Read source →} WHO GEMS/Food submissions reported lead in potatoes, as sold from 7,594 results in 4 reporting regions, with subgroup medians from 1.4 to 110 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, potatoes, cooked had a median lead result below 4 µg/kg across 27 composites from 2017–2020.^{2U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →}

Across 16 other studies of ordinary farms and markets, reported lead means and medians on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis ranged from 2 µg/kg (ANSES 2026) to 1,500 µg/kg (Islam et al. 2015).^{5ANSES · 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 →8Islam MS, Ahmed MK, Habibullah-Al-Mamun M, Raknuzzaman M · 2015The concentration, source and potential human health risk of heavy metals in the commonly consumed foods in BangladeshEcotoxicology and Environmental SafetyRead source →} For cadmium, 20 studies on an as-sold or fresh-weight basis reported means and medians from 2.2 µg/kg (Sixto et al. 2023) to 452 µg/kg (Chowdhury et al. 2024).^{9Sixto A, Mollo A, Ibanez F, Piston M · 2023Inorganic contaminants (As, Cd, Pb) in peeled and whole potatoes and sweet potatoesAgrociencia UruguayRead source →10Chowdhury 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 →} Higher results came from contaminated or exposed settings rather than ordinary supply. Potatoes, as sold from private garden (industrial-affected area) had lead higher at 58.8 µg/kg, against 18.5 µg/kg for private garden in the same study.^{7Temelkovska Ristevska K, Pavlovska G, Petrović SM, Savić S, Blazhevska T, Trajkovska Petkoska A · 2026Dietary Lead Intake from Vegetables Grown near Industrial Pollution Sources and Associated Public Health Risks: Case Studies from North MacedoniaPollutants 2026, 6, 58Read source →}

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

What counts as potatoes

This page covers potatoes in 7 forms kept separate in every comparison: potatoes, as sold (1,141 results), potatoes, peeled or flesh (66 results), potatoes, cooked (58 results), potatoes, flour or meal (24 results), potatoes, dried (16 results), potatoes, powder or ground (6 results) and potatoes, canned (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 →4Alimohammadi M, Younesian M, Madihi-Bidgoli S, Nabizadeh Nodehi R, Jahed Khaniki GR, Hadi M, Ghanbari F · 2018Heavy metal(oid)s concentration in Tehran supermarket vegetables: carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessmentToxin ReviewsRead source →5ANSES · 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 →6Antoine JMR, Hoo Fung LA, Grant CN · 2017Assessment of the potential health risks associated with the aluminium, arsenic, cadmium and lead content in selected fruits and vegetables grown in JamaicaToxicology Reports 4 (2017) 181-187Read 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 potatoes

The table holds every extracted potatoes result: one row for each statistic a source reports for a form, group and metal, 1,314 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 →4Alimohammadi M, Younesian M, Madihi-Bidgoli S, Nabizadeh Nodehi R, Jahed Khaniki GR, Hadi M, Ghanbari F · 2018Heavy metal(oid)s concentration in Tehran supermarket vegetables: carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risk assessmentToxin ReviewsRead source →5ANSES · 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 →6Antoine JMR, Hoo Fung LA, Grant CN · 2017Assessment of the potential health risks associated with the aluminium, arsenic, cadmium and lead content in selected fruits and vegetables grown in JamaicaToxicology Reports 4 (2017) 181-187Read 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 →}

276 rows can be rated against an HMI reference for the same form and basis, 117 rows have a direct same-study comparison, and the rest stay unrated with the reason recorded. 34 values from 19 sources failed a check against their own source and are shown but not compared.^{11Food Standards Agency, Hallmark Meat Hygiene · 2014Survey of metals and other elements in commercial infant foods, infant formula and non-infant specific foodsFood Standards Agency reportRead source →12Baxter M, Brereton N · 2015Total Diet Study of metals and other elements in foodFood and Environment Research Agency report for the UK Food Standards Agency, Fera report 15/06, project FS102081Read source →13Mitra Salehipour, Hadi Ghorbani, Hossein Kheirabadi, Majid Afyuni · 2015Health Risks from Heavy Metals via Consumption of Cereals and Vegetables in Isfahan Province, IranHuman and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International JournalRead source →14Hossain AMMM, Islam MS, Mamun MM, Al-Jonaed HM, Imran M, Rahman MH, Kazi MAI, Elahi SF · 2016Environmental surveillance of commonly-grown vegetables for investigating potential lead and chromium contamination intensification in BangladeshSpringerPlusRead source →15Unknown authors · 2025Detection of heavy metals concentration in vegetables andPeer-reviewed articleRead source →16Cherfi 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 →17Elbagermi MA, Edwards HGM, Alajtal AI · 2012Monitoring of Heavy Metal Content in Fruits and Vegetables Collected from Production and Market Sites in the Misurata Area of LibyaISRN Analytical ChemistryRead source →18Iessa KR, Hamdan M · 2024Assessment of the Concentrations of some Heavy Metals in some Vegetables Traded in the Local Market in Sebha City - LibyaJATAED: Journal of Appropriate Technology for Agriculture, Environment, and Development, Volume 1, Number 2Read source →19Mahaffey KR, Corneliussen PE, Jelinek CF, Fiorino JA · 1975Heavy Metal Exposure from FoodsEnvironmental Health PerspectivesRead source →20Rajni, Arif R · 2026Assessment of Lead and Cadmium contamination in Vegetables: A Study from FaridabadInternational Journal of Drug Delivery Technology 16(72s):1765-1770Read source →21Osmala-Kurpiewska W, Niesler A, Piekut AK · 2026Health risk assessment of cadmium and lead in root vegetables from retail and private cultivation in the Silesian Province, south-west PolandMedycyna Ogólna i Nauki o Zdrowiu 2026, Tom 32, Nr 3, 220-226Read source →22Leonidas Rempelos, Marcin Baranski, Enas Khalid Sufar, Jenny Gilroy, Peter Shotton, Halima Leifert, Dominika Srednicka-Tober, Gultekin Hasanaliyeva, Eduardo A. S. Rosa, Jana Hajslova, Vera Schulzova, Ismail Cakmak, Levent Ozturk, Kirsten Brandt, Chris Seal, Juan Wang, Christoph Schmidt, Carlo Leifert · 2023Effect of Climatic Conditions, and Agronomic Practices Used in Organic and Conventional Crop Production on Yield and Nutritional Composition Parameters in Potato, Cabbage, Lettuce and Onion; Results from the Long-Term NFSC-TrialsAgronomyRead source →23Sharma D, Bisla G · 2022Assessment of Heavy Metals in Fruits and Vegetables Collected from Bareilly Local Market, Uttar Pradesh State, IndiaInternational Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology 10(II):501-507Read source →24EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) · 2009Scientific Opinion of the Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain on a request from the European Commission on cadmium in foodThe EFSA JournalRead source →25Islamoglu AH, Kahvecioglu T, Bonce G, Gedik E, Gunes FE · 2021Determination of Heavy Metals in Some Fruits, Vegetables and Fish by ICP-MSEurasian Journal of Food Science and Technology 5(1):67-76Read source →26Imongben 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 →27Loutfy N, Mentler A, Shoeab M, Ahmed MT, Fuerhacker M · 2012Analysis and exposure assessment of some heavy metals in foodstuffs from Ismailia city, EgyptToxicological & Environmental ChemistryRead source →28Samma S, Islam Khan MS, Islam Chowdhury MT, Islam MA, Fick J, Kaium A · 2024Evaluating Soil-Vegetable Contamination with Heavy Metals in Bogura, Bangladesh: A Risk Assessment ApproachEnvironmental Health InsightsRead source →29EL Daouk S, Pineau A, Taha M, Ezzeddine R, Hijazi A, Al Iskandarani M · 2020Aluminum exposure from food in the population of LebanonToxicology ReportsRead source →}