Cadmium in edible plants from Silesia, Poland, and its implications for health risk in populations

The health risk associated with cadmium exposure through consumption of edible plants cultivated in different parts of the Silesia administration area inhabitants has been estimated. The impact of the arable soils acidity on the BCF (bioconcentration factor) has been also analyzed. The concentration of cadmium in arable soils and in 118 samples of vegetables - carrots, beets, potato, celery (tuber), parsley (root) were determined. The cadmium content in examined soil samples were in the range from >0.5-68.5mgkg-1 d.w. The most contaminated samples, above the maximum permissible concentration, originated from the central part of the region. The highest BCF value in case of parsley roots and carrots has been shown (0.941 and 0.828 respectively). Significant correlation between soil pH and BCF in examined edible plants has been demonstrated. In the exposure scenario, which assumes the consumption of the most contaminated vegetables from Silesia administration area, the value of the hazard quotient (HQ) for Cd was 2.56. On the contaminated arable soils from the central part of Silesia administration area the non-edible plants should be cultivated. In case of acidic and slightly acidic pH-range of arable soils, some methods of metals immobilization in soil are recommended e.g. liming.