Heavy metals in Tomato

Tomato overview

Fresh tomato usually carries little lead or cadmium. In 2,778 WHO GEMS/Food lead results for fresh tomato from 1998 to 2020, about two in three were below the laboratory’s detection limit, the median lay between 0 and 7.5 µg/kg, and 86 (3.1%) were above 50 µg/kg, the EU maximum for fruiting vegetables.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2European Commission · 2023Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006Official Journal of the European UnionRead source →} Cadmium was detected in half of 3,197 results, with a median between 0 and 5 µg/kg, and 137 (4.3%) were above the EU maximum of 20 µg/kg.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →2European Commission · 2023Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006Official Journal of the European UnionRead source →}

United States market baskets were lower still. In 27 FDA Total Diet Study samples of raw tomato bought from 2017 to 2020, cadmium was found in 24 at 1.0–7.6 µg/kg (median 3.3 µg/kg), while lead, total arsenic, mercury, nickel, chromium and uranium were below reporting limits of 1–50 µg/kg in every sample.^{3U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →} Retail and market surveys on a fresh-weight basis in Poland, Iran, Egypt and Romania found mean lead of 7–241 µg/kg and mean cadmium of 3–27 µg/kg.^{9Bora FD, Bunea A, Pop SR, Banita SI, Dusa DS, Chira A, Bunea CI · 2022Quantification and Reduction in Heavy Metal Residues in Some Fruits and Vegetables: A Case Study Galați County, RomaniaHorticulturaeRead source →10Rusin M, Domagalska J, Rogala D, Razzaghi M, Szymala I · 2021Concentration of cadmium and lead in vegetables and fruitsScientific ReportsRead source →11Ali Heshmati, Fereshteh Mehri, Javad Karami-Momtaz, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah · 2020Concentration and Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements, Lead and Cadmium, in Vegetables and Cereals Consumed in Western IranJournal of Food Protection 83(1):101-107Read source →12Loutfy 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 →13Alimohammadi 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 →14Abdolahpour 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 →}

The high values in the literature come from exposed growing sites, from studies reporting on a dry-weight basis, and from papers whose figures do not survive a check. Tomatoes grown near two Chinese coal-fired power plants held 9.8–76 µg/kg mercury against 0.73 µg/kg in a grocery-store sample, and Cairo tomatoes irrigated with industrial wastewater held about two and a half times the nickel and chromium of Nile-irrigated fruit.^{4Li 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 →5Ahmed A, Hassan I, Abd-Elrahman S, ElSayed M · 2023Trace metal concentrations in tomato fruits irrigated with industrial wastewater in Cairo and health risk assessmentEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →} A tomato is about 94% water, so a dry-weight result is roughly 17 times the fresh-weight concentration of the same fruit; this page keeps the two bases apart, and holds values from 17 papers that conflict with their own methods or tables.^{11Ali Heshmati, Fereshteh Mehri, Javad Karami-Momtaz, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah · 2020Concentration and Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements, Lead and Cadmium, in Vegetables and Cereals Consumed in Western IranJournal of Food Protection 83(1):101-107Read source →15Jaishree, Khan TI · 2015Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables irrigated with industrial effluentInternational Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and TechnologyRead source →16Unknown authors · 2025Detection of heavy metals concentration in vegetables andPeer-reviewed articleRead 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 →}

For a buyer, the supported priorities are the growing site and the irrigation water, and lot results on a fresh-weight basis with quantification limits well below the EU maxima of 50 µg/kg lead and 20 µg/kg cadmium.^{2European Commission · 2023Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006Official Journal of the European UnionRead source →4Li 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 →5Ahmed A, Hassan I, Abd-Elrahman S, ElSayed M · 2023Trace metal concentrations in tomato fruits irrigated with industrial wastewater in Cairo and health risk assessmentEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →6Unknown authors · 2015reclaimed water through field trials on the content and distribution of heavy metals in both tomatoesPeer-reviewed articleRead source →} Codex sets 50 µg/kg lead for fruiting vegetables in its 2025 edition, but its cadmium maximum for fruiting vegetables does not apply to tomatoes.^{18Codex Alimentarius Commission · 1995General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CXS 193-1995)Codex Alimentarius (Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme)Read source →}

What counts as fresh tomato

This page covers fresh tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum) of any type, including cherry, plum and grape tomatoes, raw or of unstated preparation.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →19Grochowska-Niedworok E, Nieć J, Baranowska R · 2020Assessment of cadmium and lead content in tomatoes and tomato productsRoczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny (Annals of the National Institute of Hygiene)Read source →9Bora FD, Bunea A, Pop SR, Banita SI, Dusa DS, Chira A, Bunea CI · 2022Quantification and Reduction in Heavy Metal Residues in Some Fruits and Vegetables: A Case Study Galați County, RomaniaHorticulturaeRead source →} Canned tomatoes, paste, purée, sauce, ketchup, juice, soup, dried tomato and dishes that contain tomato have their own pages, and their values are not used here; tree tomato (tamarillo) is a different plant.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →3U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →}

Weight basis matters more for tomato than for most foods. Fresh tomatoes were 94.0–94.3% water in the surveys that measured it, so a concentration per kilogram of dry matter is about 17 times the concentration per kilogram of fresh fruit.^{11Ali Heshmati, Fereshteh Mehri, Javad Karami-Momtaz, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah · 2020Concentration and Risk Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements, Lead and Cadmium, in Vegetables and Cereals Consumed in Western IranJournal of Food Protection 83(1):101-107Read 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 →} Many surveys dry the samples before analysis and do not state which basis they report; those results are shown, but compared only within their own study, because they cannot be placed on either basis.^{20Bazie SR, Compaore MKA, Bande M, Kpoda SD, Meda NSBR, Ouedraogo Kangambega TM, Ilboudo I, Sandwidi BY, Nikiema F, Yakoro A, Bassole IHN, Hien H, Kabre E · 2022Evaluation of metallic trace elements contents in some major raw foodstuffs in Burkina Faso and health risk assessmentScientific ReportsRead source →21John Joseph, Toma Buba, Jalo Enoch, Ayuba Kaluri · 2025Assessment of the Level of Heavy Metals in Irrigation Water, Farm Soil, and Vegetables Grown in Gobbiya Dam, Bogoro Local Government Area Bauchi State, NigeriaJournal of Energy Technology and Environment 7(4):79–92Read source →22Unknown authors · 2017Levels, dietary intake, and health risk of potentially toxic metalsPeer-reviewed articleRead source →}

Place names need the same care. A GEMS/Food region is the region that reported the result, and its domestic and imported labels are relative to a reporting country the export does not name, while most surveys report the market where the tomatoes were bought.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →12Loutfy 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 →23Vela Doris, Simbana-Farinango Karina, Navarrete Hugo, Romero-Estevez David · 2023Determination of cadmium and lead in vegetables marketed in Quito, EcuadorRevista Internacional de Contaminacion AmbientalRead source →} Greenhouse, field and organic labels in the monitoring data are the submitters’ food names and were not verified.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →}

Heavy metal contamination profile of tomato

The table holds every fresh-tomato result extracted from 38 studies and reports and two monitoring datasets: one row for each statistic a source reports for a subgroup and metal, so a mean, a median and a range from the same samples appear as separate rows.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →3U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →9Bora FD, Bunea A, Pop SR, Banita SI, Dusa DS, Chira A, Bunea CI · 2022Quantification and Reduction in Heavy Metal Residues in Some Fruits and Vegetables: A Case Study Galați County, RomaniaHorticulturaeRead source →24Rossini-Oliva S, López Nuñez R · 2024Is it healthy urban agriculture? Human exposure to potentially toxic elements in urban gardens from Andalusia, SpainEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →20Bazie SR, Compaore MKA, Bande M, Kpoda SD, Meda NSBR, Ouedraogo Kangambega TM, Ilboudo I, Sandwidi BY, Nikiema F, Yakoro A, Bassole IHN, Hien H, Kabre E · 2022Evaluation of metallic trace elements contents in some major raw foodstuffs in Burkina Faso and health risk assessmentScientific ReportsRead source →} Ratings place a mean, median or single result against pooled HMI tomato references on the same weight basis, built from WHO GEMS/Food subgroup medians, FDA market-basket samples and per-sample results printed by surveys in Poland, Ecuador and Algeria; non-detects remain intervals and are never read as zero.^{1World Health Organization · 2026GEMS/Food Contaminants database heavy-metal exportsGEMS/Food Contamination Monitoring and Assessment ProgrammeRead source →3U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 2022FY2018-FY2020 TDS Elements Analytical ResultsFDA Total Diet StudyRead source →19Grochowska-Niedworok E, Nieć J, Baranowska R · 2020Assessment of cadmium and lead content in tomatoes and tomato productsRoczniki Państwowego Zakładu Higieny (Annals of the National Institute of Hygiene)Read source →23Vela Doris, Simbana-Farinango Karina, Navarrete Hugo, Romero-Estevez David · 2023Determination of cadmium and lead in vegetables marketed in Quito, EcuadorRevista Internacional de Contaminacion AmbientalRead source →25Cherfi 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 →} Experimental treatments are compared only with their own controls, results of unstated basis only within their own study, and rows that failed a check against their own paper stay visible with the reason and are not compared.^{5Ahmed A, Hassan I, Abd-Elrahman S, ElSayed M · 2023Trace metal concentrations in tomato fruits irrigated with industrial wastewater in Cairo and health risk assessmentEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →26Clair-Caliot G, Marks SJ, Hug SJ, Bretzler A, N’guessan ND, Tihe SFK, Lalanne F · 2021Uptake of Arsenic by Irrigated Vegetables and Cooked Food Products in Burkina FasoFrontiers in WaterRead source →15Jaishree, Khan TI · 2015Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables irrigated with industrial effluentInternational Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and TechnologyRead source →20Bazie SR, Compaore MKA, Bande M, Kpoda SD, Meda NSBR, Ouedraogo Kangambega TM, Ilboudo I, Sandwidi BY, Nikiema F, Yakoro A, Bassole IHN, Hien H, Kabre E · 2022Evaluation of metallic trace elements contents in some major raw foodstuffs in Burkina Faso and health risk assessmentScientific ReportsRead source →27Salem SH, Saber M, Gadow S, Kabary H, Zaghloul A · 2024Influence of the use of remediated soil and agricultural drainage water on the safety of tomato fruitsEnvironmental Science and Pollution ResearchRead source →}