engleski

Lead concentrations in Brassicas from Zagreb Home Gardens

Aim: To measure the concentration of lead in brassicas grown in Zagreb home gardens, and thus assess lead exposure in the city. Methods: During November-December 1995, and January-February 1996, 81 samples of brassicas (savoy cabbage, Swiss chard, lambs'-lettuce, cabbage, leeks, parsley, dandelion, lettuce, spinach, Brussels sprout, kohlrabi, and celeriac) were collected. The gardens from which the samples were obtained, were at a distance of 50200 m from the roads. After rinsing the vegetables under running tap water, the lead content was determined by atom absorption spectrophotometry. Results: The mean lead concentration measured in the brassicas was 541 +- 350 mu-g/kg (median 454 mu-g/kg, range 19-1, 871 mu-g/kg). In 12 out of 81 samples (14.8%), lead concentration exceeded the allowed concentration of 1, 000 mu-g/kg. The highest mean lead concentration (834 +- 210 mu-g/kg) was found in the vegetables from the southern part of the city, whereas the highest proportion (5 out of 12, 41.7%) of the samples with high lead concentration was recorded in the south-western part of the city. Conclusion: The results confirmed that southern and southwestern parts of the city have higher lead exposure, which is consistent with the routinely measured air lead concentration. The concentration of lead was influenced by manufacturing plants, heavy traffic, and metereologic conditions, mainly the prevailing wind.

lead ; Brassicas ; home gardens ; Zagreb ; Croatia

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