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Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Due to Wheat, Cabbage, and Spinach Consumption at Cold-Arid High Altitude Region

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Abstract

Soil and water from the trans-Himalayan high-altitude region contain high concentrations of various heavy metals. Vegetables and cereals such as cabbage, spinach, and wheat are most prone to heavy metal accumulation from soil and water which can be toxic for human consumption. It has yet to be studied how consumption of vegetables and cereal with excess heavy metal content can affect human health in high altitude areas. To this end, the objectives of this study are (a) quantify the concentrations of Aluminum (Al), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Boron (B), Lead (Pb), Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Selenium (Se), Copper (Cu), and Zinc (Zn) in three crops (wheat, cabbage, and spinach), and (b) evaluate the health risk of excess dietary heavy metal consumption in the local adult population using non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic parameters. A total of 60 samples were analyzed for minerals and potentially toxic elements using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Results found that spinach has a high mineral content than wheat and cabbage. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of each metal in each crop was less than the limit of permissible value. The hazard index (HI) of three plant species, and target hazard quotient (THQ) were less than the threshold level (< 1). The carcinogenic risk (CR) value in all the crops was less than the unacceptable risk level (1 × 10−4). These findings suggest that consumption of wheat, spinach, and cabbage does not have any significant effect on human health due to presence of elevated heavy metals at this high altitude region.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the farmers of sampling sites in Ladakh for their kind permission and support during the vegetable sample collection. The first author is highly thankful to Dr. Andrew Magnuson, Postdoctoral Scientist at Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, USA, for his technical support during manuscript drafting.

Funding

The authors are thankful to the Defence Research and Developmental Organization (DRDO), New Delhi, India, for the financial support to conduct this study and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a research fellowship to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DRDO-Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh, Ladakh UT, India

    Arup Giri, Vijay K. Bharti, Sahil Kalia, Somen Acharya & O. P. Chaurasia

  2. Department of Zoology, Baba Masthnath University, Rohtak, Haryana, 124021, India

    Arup Giri

  3. DRDO-Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), New Delhi, India

    Bhuvnesh Kumar

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Contributions

Arup Giri designed the study, performed all the experiments related to minerals analysis, contributed to statistical analysis, and drafted the main manuscript. Sahil Kalia has performed all the experiments related to mineral analysis. Somen Acharya designed the study, helped with sample processing, and drafted the main manuscript. Vijay K. Bharti coordinated this study and interpreted the data. Bhuvnesh Kumar and OP Chaurasia have reviewed and edited the manuscript. All the authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Giri, A., Bharti, V.K., Kalia, S. et al. Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals Due to Wheat, Cabbage, and Spinach Consumption at Cold-Arid High Altitude Region. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 4186–4198 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-03006-4

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