Overview
Hassoon collected six vegetables, imported and locally produced, from four Baghdad wholesale markets during 2016 and measured chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead by X-ray fluorescence on dried powder. Cadmium was high in all samples (about 1.5 to 6 mg/kg dry), and lead ranged from 0.3 to 1.6 mg/kg dry. The paper reports significant differences between imported and local produce for some vegetables.
Key numbers
- Local onion cadmium 6.0375 ± 2.77 mg/kg dry; local potatoes 5.975 ± 4.10 mg/kg (Table 2).
- Local turnips lead 1.48 ± 1.26 mg/kg dry; local tomato lead 0.465 ± 0.32 mg/kg (Table 2).
- Imported lettuce lead 1.5575 ± 0.14 mg/kg dry; imported potatoes cadmium 5.575 ± 3.30 mg/kg (Table 1).
Methods (brief)
Samples washed in tap and deionized water, air dried then oven dried at no more than 70 C, ground and sieved (212 um); 3 g of powder analysed by XRF. Results are mean ± SD on dry matter. Sample counts per mean, detection limits and QA are not reported.
Evidence Fitness
A market survey with dispersion statistics but no sample counts or quality control. XRF cadmium values of several mg/kg dry are high for vegetables, so treat absolute levels with caution. For vegetables-mixed this is a proxy (individual vegetables, no mixed product).