Overview
The authors measured cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, manganese, iron and zinc by AAS in vegetables bought at six peri-urban markets in the Multan and Rawalpindi regions of Punjab and estimated intakes from a consumption survey. Lead and cadmium means exceeded the cited FAO/WHO limits in every vegetable, with cadmium higher in Rawalpindi samples. Arsenic and mercury were not measured.
Key numbers
- Rawalpindi lead 3.045 (carrot) to 5.648 (pea) mg/kg dry weight; cauliflower 5.002 ± 0.473, turnip 4.266 ± 0.862 (Table 1).
- Rawalpindi cadmium 0.4678 (cauliflower) to 1.8656 (pea) mg/kg; turnip 1.3256 (Table 1).
- Multan lead 1.1833 (brinjal) to 6.9678 (round gourd) mg/kg; cauliflower lead 1.8422, cadmium 0.1289 (Table 2).
Methods (brief)
Washed vegetables were dehydrated at 55 to 60 °C, powdered, digested in nitric and perchloric acids and analyzed by graphite furnace AAS for cadmium, chromium, lead and nickel. Reference material GBW10011 recovered 83.7 to 99.4%. Detection limits are not reported. Means ± SD are on a dry-weight basis.
Evidence Fitness
Market vegetables with a reference-material check, but sample counts do not reconcile (51 stated, larger group counts printed), per-vegetable n is not given, detection limits and dates are missing, and the brinjal nickel and manganese cells are identical. Lead at 1 to 7 mg/kg dry weight is high. Cauliflower and turnip are Brassica proxies for collard-greens, which was not measured.