Three vegetables and three fruits grown within 25 km of a uranium mine in Andhra Pradesh were analyzed for 13 metals by ICP-MS. Uranium was the lowest-concentration element measured, in the low micrograms per kilogram on a wet-weight basis, and the authors judged all levels acceptable for consumption. The paper has no reference site away from the mine, so it cannot show a mine effect.
Key numbers
- Uranium across all 72 samples: 1.7 to 27.6 µg/kg wet weight (Table 2, p. 509; p. 508).
- Zone means (mean ± SD, µg/kg wet weight), core then buffer zone: tomato 2.7 ± 0.4 and 4.1 ± 3.3; green chilli 8.0 ± 3.4 and 4.4 ± 2.0; bitter gourd 4.4 ± 0.2 and 4.4 ± 0.3; banana 16.4 ± 9.5 and 5.3 ± 2.1; papaya 6.8 ± 2.8 and 10.6 ± 4.1; sweet lime 5.4 ± 1.6 and 4.0 ± 0.9 (Table 2, p. 509).
- Median uranium intake from 100 g per day of these vegetables and fruits: 0.6 µg/day, compared by the authors with a literature range of 0.9 to 1.5 µg/day (p. 510).
Methods (brief)
Edible portions were washed, digested with nitric and perchloric acids and analyzed by ICP-MS (Agilent 7700) with multi-element calibration, spike recovery and replicate analysis. All results are reported on a wet-weight basis. The work was funded by the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India.
Evidence fitness
Supports statements about uranium levels in common produce grown near a uranium mine and a rough intake estimate. It does not support claims that the mine raised produce uranium, because no distant control site was sampled.
Limitations
No control site, no certified reference material reported, and sample numbers per crop and zone not stated.
Related evidence
- Uranium
- Tomato
- Peppers
- Banana
- Vegetables
- Fruit
- ICP-MS — Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Update history
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