[Accumulation of heavy metals (Pb, Cd) in selected varieties of vegetables]

Vegetables have a great share in supplying of lead and cadmium with food into the human organism. For this reason an attempt was undertaken for quantitative evaluation of accumulation of those metals in three varieties of the following vegetables: carrots, parsley, garden beet, cabbage and potato grown at identical fertilization, weather conditions and pollution. Cadmium and lead were complexed with diethyldithiocarbamate, extracted into organic phase, and determined using atomic absorption spectrometry method. Cadmium content in tested vegetables was close to allowed values, established by Polish Legislation for these foods stuffs, and even exceeded limits in many specimens. Lead content is lower than allowed values with exception of one variety of carrot and all parsley specimens (leaf). Statistically significant differences (t-Student test) in the content of lead and cadmium in different varieties of the same vegetable were not observed. However, the minimum content of both metals in cultivated vegetables was observed in the following vegetables: parsley, carrot (three varieties), red beet (two varieties), potato, cabbage (two varieties).