Ćwieląg-Drabek and colleagues measured cadmium, lead, and zinc in 219 topsoil samples and 64 vegetable samples from family allotment gardens in Silesia Province, Poland, an area with a mining and smelting history. Vegetables were prepared as they would be eaten, peeled, and reported on a fresh weight basis. Soil was dried and reported on a dry weight basis. The abstract states average vegetable cadmium of 0.52 mg/kg fresh weight and average lead of 0.57 mg/kg fresh weight. Type-specific means, minima, and maxima are in Table 4.
Key numbers
Figures below are copied as printed. Units are not converted. Species are not merged.
| Analyte | What was reported | Value | Unit | Basis | Where |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cd | MPC | 3 | mg kg−1 dry weight | dry weight | Table 2, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC | 250 | mg kg−1 dry weight | dry weight | Table 2, p. 5 |
| Zn | MPC | 500 | mg kg−1 dry weight | dry weight | Table 2, p. 5 |
| Cd | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Cd | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Pb | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Cd | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Cd | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Pb | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Cd | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Cd | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Pb | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Cd | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Cd | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Pb | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Cd | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Cd | 0.20 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Pb | MPC mg kg−1 fresh weight Pb | 0.10 | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
| Zn | MPC Zn | , | mg kg−1 fresh weight | wet weight | Table 4, p. 5 |
The structured evidence record for this source holds 158 copied values. The table above is the short set.
Methods (brief)
Gardens were in four zones of Upper Silesia. Vegetables collected in 2013 to 2017 were carrot root, potato tuber, beetroot bulb, parsley root, and celery root, chosen by what was growing. Soil was taken from 0 to 20 cm as a composite of 10 to 15 cores per square meter. About 0.5 g dry soil or 1 g fresh vegetable was microwave digested in nitric acid. Metals were measured by ICP-OES, with low-level samples repeated by atomic absorption. Results were checked with a cabbage certified reference material and a soil reference material. The paper does not print the certified or measured reference values. Health risk used three scenarios of average daily dose and hazard quotient, which are not copied here.
Evidence fitness
These data support fresh weight Cd, Pb, and Zn means, minima, and maxima in carrot, potato, beetroot, parsley, and celery from Silesian allotment gardens; dry weight Cd, Pb, and Zn summaries in allotment topsoil by zone and sampling point; comparison with cited EU vegetable maximum levels and Polish soil quality standards.
They do not support inorganic or organic species of these elements; individual vegetable sample rows; antimony, arsenic, mercury, or chromium in these samples; a certification threshold.
Limitations
Vegetable results are fresh weight summaries, not individual plants, even though beetroot (n=8), parsley (n=13), celery (n=13), and carrot (n=14) are at or below 15 samples. Zone II soil has n=7 and only summaries are printed. Lead minima of <0.007 are not defined as a detection limit. Zone IV zinc is a row of dashes. One carrot cadmium maximum is printed 4,82 with a comma. A cited soil range prints cadmium as 25-l33. Cadmium, lead, and zinc are not speciated. Table 5 doses and hazard quotients were not transcribed.
Related evidence
Update history
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