Celery roots and garden soils from 26 households in a historically polluted Romanian area showed wide cadmium and lead variation in 2021–2022. Soil results use dry weight, while edible celeriac results use fresh weight; these paired measurements preserve a legacy-contamination pathway without assigning sole liability to any facility.
Key numbers
| Matrix | Metal | Min | Max | Median | Geometric mean | Mean | SD | CV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| soil | Cd | 0.1 | 14.8 | 4.45 | 1.82 | 4.31 | 3.95 | 91.6 |
| soil | Pb | 28 | 326 | 118.5 | 100.9 | 131.2 | 92.5 | 70.5 |
| soil | Zn | 117 | 1076 | 317 | 323.5 | 383 | 238.2 | 62.2 |
| soil | Cu | 25 | 163 | 58.5 | 58.8 | 65.3 | 31.4 | 48.1 |
| root-tuber-vegetables | Cd | 0.058 | 1.254 | 0.311 | 0.362 | 0.463 | 0.321 | 69.3 |
| root-tuber-vegetables | Pb | 0.022 | 0.62 | 0.105 | 0.117 | 0.163 | 0.138 | 84.7 |
| root-tuber-vegetables | Zn | 3.1 | 11.7 | 6.95 | 6.72 | 7.03 | 2.06 | 29.3 |
| root-tuber-vegetables | Cu | 0.6 | 2.51 | 1.41 | 1.27 | 1.35 | 0.45 | 33.3 |
All concentration statistics aremg/kg: soilDW, celeryrootFW. Highest labelled celeryCd 1.254 mg/kgFW at MicăsasaMS 16; highestPb 0.620 at AxenteSeverAS 13. Household-labelled points and source soil/root regression coefficients are retained in structured evidence.
Methods (brief)
2021–2022 paired household soil 0–20 cm and celeryroot samples. Soil air-dried and aqua-regia microwave digested; roots tap-water washed twice, chopped, frozen and nitric-acid microwave digested. Flame/graphite-furnace AAS. n 26; source explicitly labels soilDW and celeryFW. Collection includes AxenteSever, Agârbiciu, Bazna, CopșaMică, Micăsasa,Șoala, Târnava.
Implications
Supports historical industrial-burden and present edible-root occurrence evidence. Celery here is celeriac, not stalk celery; the product category is root/tuber vegetables. Geographic sampling is targeted to a polluted area and is not a national market sample.
Evidence Fitness: EF-2 for paired soil/food summary statistics and labelled household measurements. Preserve all summary types and unequal matrix bases; no cross-market pooling assumption.
Related evidence
- Root and Tuber Vegetables
- Celery
- Soil-to-plant transfer of heavy metals
- Source attribution and environmental burden apportionment
- Cadmium
- Lead
- Zinc
- Copper
Update history
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