Concentration of heavy metals in vegetables and potential health risk assessment in China

Food safety is an important issue in the world. This study assessed the health risk for the Chinese public when consuming vegetables grown in China, based on 1335 data records from 220 published papers during 2007-2016. The results showed that the average of Pb, Cd, and Hg concentration in vegetables was 0.106, 0.041, and 0.008 mg/kg, which were lower than the maximum allowable concentrations, respectively. Leaf vegetables contained higher heavy metals than root vegetables and fruit vegetables. On a provincial scale, the highest Pb, Cd, and Hg concentrations in vegetables were determined by those in soil and atmosphere. The total health risk index showed that people in Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Hubei provinces in southern China, and Liaoning Province in northeast China, faced a high risk of Pb, Cd, and Hg when consuming vegetables.