Vela et al. 2023 - Cadmium and lead in Quito vegetables
This study measured cadmium and lead in tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce marketed in Quito, Ecuador. It is directly routeable for vegetable occurrence because the source reports matrix-specific concentrations and comparison limits.
Key numbers
- Table II reports values in mg/kg dry weight.
- Tomato Pb values were 0.51, 0.65, 0.46, and 0.52 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.05 mg/kg maximum level used by the authors.
- Carrot Pb values were 2.13, 2.13, 1.54, and 1.35 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.1 mg/kg maximum level.
- Lettuce Pb values were 5.81, 5.45, 4.74, and 3.56 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.3 mg/kg maximum level.
- Tomato Cd values were 0.65, 0.72, 0.51, and 0.61 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.05 mg/kg maximum level.
- Carrot Cd values were 0.45, 0.49, 0.71, and 0.74 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.1 mg/kg maximum level.
- Lettuce Cd values were 0.65, 0.72, 1.02, and 0.99 mg/kg dry weight, compared with a 0.2 mg/kg maximum level.
Methods
The paper reports vegetable-specific Cd and Pb values for Quito market samples. The values are dry-weight concentrations and must not be mixed with wet-weight produce data without a conversion.
Implications
The source supports Cd/Pb gap filling for carrots, tomatoes, and lettuce in an Ecuador market context. Its dry-weight basis and geography should remain explicit during routing and pooling.
Wiki pages this source may touch
- carrots
- tomato
- lettuce
- root-tuber-vegetables
- non-root-vegetables
- leafy-vegetables-other
- cadmium
- lead
Verification notes
All values in the Key numbers section are dry-weight values from Table II. The page avoids converting to fresh-weight equivalents.
Page history
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