Overview
Guerra and colleagues measured cadmium, nickel, lead, cobalt and chromium by AAS in the most commonly traded fruits and vegetables at the Sao Paulo wholesale center (CEAGESP) in August 2009, and estimated daily intake and hazard quotients. Tables 2 to 5 give fresh-weight means for 82 entries, grouped as fruits, leafy vegetables, green vegetables and general vegetables, with the Brazilian state of origin.
Key numbers
- Melon (Cucumis melo), n=3, Pernambuco: cadmium 0.02, lead 0.54, nickel 0.20 mg/kg fresh weight (Table 2, p. 57).
- Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), n=1, Goias: cadmium 0.02, lead 0.17 mg/kg (Table 2).
- National garlic, n=3: lead 2.50 mg/kg, the highest lead in the survey (Table 5, p. 58); carrot, n=3: lead 0.38, cadmium 0.03 mg/kg (Table 4).
- Text: lead ranged 0.02 to 2.50 mg/kg and 44.6% of samples exceeded the Brazilian limit of 0.5 mg/kg (p. 56).
Methods (brief)
Washed as for food preparation, edible parts air dried at 65 °C, ground, digested with HNO3/HClO4 (3:1) in a block, and read by AAS (Varian SpectrAA 140) in triplicate. NIST SRM 1515 Apple Leaves recoveries: cadmium 123%, lead 78%, nickel 80%, chromium 75% and cobalt 81% (noncertified). Detection limits are given in digest solution (for example lead below 0.09 mg/L).
Evidence Fitness
Broad market survey, but most entries have only 2 to 5 samples, and leafy-vegetable rows give means without dispersion. Tables are labelled fresh weight although samples were dried before digestion, and no moisture correction is described. Lead recovery of 78% suggests possible low bias. Melon and watermelon are proxies for the cantaloupe page, and raw roots and tubers are proxies for the root-vegetable-purees page; neither thin page is linked.