PARENT SESSION

4E - Food Safety
Hall 9
8:30 AM - 10:15 AM, Thursday, 1 May 2003
Chair: Van Hemmen, J.¹, ¹
Co-chair: Trapp, S.², ²

(TH9/1) Uptake of trace elements and PAHs by fruit and vegetables from contaminated soils.

Samsoe-Petersen, Lise¹, Huusfeldt Larsen, Erik², Larsen, Poul Bo ³, Bruun, Preben ³, ¹ DHI Water & Environment, Horsholm, Denmark, Denmark² Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Copenhagen, Denmark, Denmark³ Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Copenhagen, Denmark, Denmark

ABSTRACT- Human exposure to contaminants in soil is a matter of general health concern. In urban environments, where private gardens are often located in contaminated areas, the exposure of humans to contaminants via consumption of home grown vegetables and fruit may constitute a potential health risk. In order to establish advice regarding consumption of fruit and vegetables grown in soils contaminated by trace elements and PAHs, the uptake of aged trace elements (7) and PAHs (5) in crop plants from contaminated soil was investigated. The investigations were carried out in 1999, financed by the Danish EPA, the Municipality of Copenhagen and the County of Northern Jutland. In a field experiment, vegetables were grown in two contaminated soils and in a reference soil while fruits were collected from uncontaminated and contaminated private gardens. The results showed elevated levels of several trace elements and PAHs in the vegetables from contaminated soil. Bioconcentration factors (BCF values), based on dry weight were below 1, except for those of Cd in lettuce and carrot with peel from uncontaminated soil. In most cases, BCF values were decreasing with increasing concentrations in soil. From the heavily contaminated soil, BCF values for Pb in lettuce, potato and carrot with peel were 0.001, 0.002 and 0.05, respectively and those for benzo(a)pyrene were 0.004, 0.002 and 0.002, respectively. For most metals in most vegetables, linear regression showed good correlation between soil and crop concentrations. For PAHs, such good correlation was generally not found. The contents of contaminants in fruits were generally low and no correlation with the level of contamination in the soils was found. The results were used for initial human risk assessment by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration and the Danish EPA. The resulting advise concerned soils contaminated with substances at levels within the advisory interval; which is the interval between the soil quality criterion (no restrictions on land use) and the cut-off criterion (any contact with the soil should be omitted). Vegetables should not be consumed if cultivated in soil contaminated above the cut-off criterion and that produce from contaminated soil in the advisory interval below the cut-off criteria should be carefully washed and root crops peeled prior to cooking.

Key words: contaminants, plant uptake, fruits and vegetables, human exposure assessment