Overview
This study measured Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and total Cr in five fruit types, plus soil and irrigation water, from six industrial zones of Markazi province, Iran. The paper treats these as essential elements and performs non-carcinogenic risk calculations; for HMT&C routing, the relevant contamination endpoint is total chromium in fresh fruit, with Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn as nutrient/trace-element context.
Key numbers
Mean fruit concentrations by fruit type (Table 3; ug/kg dry weight):
| Fruit | Cr | Cu | Fe | Mn | Zn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plum | 6.16 +/- 2.81 | 23.40 +/- 11.84 | 168.32 +/- 101.96 | 19.51 +/- 9.98 | 12.20 +/- 7.63 |
| Apple | 1.31 +/- 0.11 | 11.67 +/- 11.58 | 60.90 +/- 59.73 | 6.93 +/- 6.48 | 9.76 +/- 5.83 |
| Grape | 1.28 +/- 0.16 | 27.91 +/- 14.18 | 102.38 +/- 76.73 | 14.54 +/- 8.26 | 12.65 +/- 6.69 |
| Peach | 2.86 +/- 2.57 | 15.51 +/- 7.78 | 155.42 +/- 72.06 | 9.68 +/- 2.44 | 11.01 +/- 5.32 |
| Nectarine | 1.35 +/- 0.30 | 13.14 +/- 3.81 | 65.40 +/- 58.36 | 6.17 +/- 2.07 | 6.21 +/- 9.57 |
The authors report that the highest Fe, Mn, and Cr concentrations were observed in golden plum, while the highest Cu was observed in grape and the highest Zn in apple.
Soil and water context (Table 4; ug/kg or ug/L):
| Matrix | Cr | Cu | Fe | Mn | Zn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water mean +/- SD | < LOD | < LOD | 1316 +/- 1108 | 483.80 +/- 112.90 | 327.90 +/- 182.11 |
| Soil mean +/- SD | 221.90 +/- 74.31 | 772.50 +/- 204.72 | 383306.20 +/- 90254.22 | 13415.00 +/- 3557.11 | 1787.60 +/- 441.42 |
Method performance (Table 2; fruit matrix):
| Element | Recovery | RSD range | LOD (ug/kg) | LOQ (ug/kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cr | 113.70 +/- 7.57% | 5.11-18.91% | 0.10 | 0.33 |
| Cu | 100.34 +/- 8.08% | 5.70-17.40% | 0.30 | 0.99 |
| Fe | 111.56 +/- 7.83% | 4.92-19.30% | 0.16 | 0.53 |
| Mn | 101.48 +/- 6.26% | 6.20-19.30% | 0.07 | 0.23 |
| Zn | 110.70 +/- 8.56% | 2.80-11.10% | 0.27 | 0.89 |
The reported transfer factors for all five elements were below 1, and the authors report 95th percentile THQ and TTHQ values below 1 for both adults and children.
Methods (brief)
Fruit samples were collected from farms in six Markazi province industrial zones, transferred in polyethylene bags, washed with tap and ultrapure water, chopped to edible portions, dried at 70 C for 48 hours, and acid digested by microwave-assisted digestion. Soil samples were dried at 70 C for 24 hours. Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Cr were measured by ICP-OES using a Varian Vista-MPX instrument. The risk assessment used estimated daily intake, target hazard quotient, total target hazard quotient, and Monte Carlo simulation with Crystal Ball software and 10,000 iterations.
Implications
Standards work: This is fresh-fruit trace-element occurrence evidence from an industrial-region sampling design. Total Cr is the main HMT&C-relevant endpoint; other elements are mostly nutrient/trace-element context at very low ug/kg dry-weight levels.
Courses: Useful for showing soil-to-fruit transfer-factor calculations and the difference between high soil concentrations and much lower edible-fruit concentrations.
App: Route as fresh-fruit total-Cr context for apple, grape, peach, plum, and nectarine. Do not use this as a Cd/Pb/As/Hg source; those analytes were not measured.
Microbiome: Not addressed.
Related evidence
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