The concentration data of heavy metals in vegetables of Guilan province, Iran

Abstract

Food safety is a major problem currently facing the world and food consumption has been identified as the major pathway for human exposure to hazardous pollutants such as heavy metals. These datasets include the concentration of heavy metals like Cd, Pb, Cu, Ba, Co and Sn in selected vegetables in Guilan province and estimate daily intake of metals. The results of this dataset showed that the average concentration of heavy metals including Cd, Pb, Cu, Ba, Co and Sn in total vegetables were 0.55, 1.098, 4.095, 5.98, 0.69, and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively. The mint showed higher levels of Pb, Cu and Co contamination compared to other vegetables. The estimated daily intakes of Cd, Pb, Cu, Ba, Co and Sn for children were 0.311, 0.622, 2.320, 3.388, 0.391, 0.119 µg/day, whereas for adults were 0.182, 0.363, 1.357, 1.98, 0.228, 0.069 mg/kg, respectively. The present data highlights that both adults and children consuming vegetables ingest significant amount of these metals. Keywords: Vegetables, Heavy metals, Daily intake