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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk
Assessment of Green Leafy Vegetables Irrigated
with Municipal Wastewater in Gaziantep, Türkiye
1
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Gaziantep, 27310 Gaziantep, Türkiye
2
Department of Food Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Gaziantep, 27310 Gaziantep, Türkiye
Submission date: 2024-09-25
Final revision date: 2025-01-07
Acceptance date: 2025-04-06
Online publication date: 2025-05-23
Corresponding author
Gülcan Çınar
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Gaziantep, 27310 Gaziantep, Türkiye
Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Gaziantep, 27310 Gaziantep, Türkiye
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted to evaluate the heavy metal contents (As, Fe, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, and Pb)
of soil and some green leafy vegetables irrigated with municipal wastewater in Gaziantep (Türkiye)
and their possible health risks. For this purpose, the samples were collected from random plots
that could best represent the area during the harvest period. The mean values of heavy metals analyzed
in the soil were generally lower than the maximum permissible limits (MPL) recommended by
WHO/FAO. However, the mean Fe (556 mg/kg), Cd (4.13 mg/kg), Cu (11.7 mg/kg), and Ni
(7.7 mg/kg) contents in the mint samples were high for human consumption, according to WHO/
FAO. It was determined that the mean As in parsley was at the level of MPL, but the Pb contents
in mint, parsley, and dill were higher than the MPL. The highest transfer factor (TF) value in mint was
in Cd (1.34), followed by Cu (0.36) and Cr (0.15). The TF in parsley was Cd>As>Pb>Cr>Cu>Ni>Fe.
On the other hand, it was Cu>Pb>As>Cr>Fe in dill. The daily intake of metal (DIM) of the leafy
vegetables was lower than the permitted maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) values. The hazard
coefficient and hazard index were <1. Thus, it showed that consumption of the leafy vegetables grown
with municipal wastewater did not pose a health risk related to the selected heavy metals.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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