ASSESSMENT OF THE POTENTIAL HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSUMPTION OF VEGETABLE PLANTS CONTAMINATED BY TRACE METALS (TMS): CASE OF MARKET GARDENING AROUND ANTANANARIVO

CHEMISTRY

In many large Western cities, urban farmers are increasingly accepted and valued. In and around the city of Antananarivo, market gardening continues to develop. The present study contributes to the preservation of the sanitary quality of the foodstuffs grown there. Thus, samples of market garden plants were collected in the city of Antananarivo. Metallic trace elements (TM) contents were determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF). The exposure of adult consumers to TMs in these plants was calculated and the potential health risks associated with them were assessed. A critical contamination of vegetable plants among the most consumed by the population was recorded. TMs are distributed in different ways among the edible organs of these plants, some of which are more accumulative than others. The exposure of adult consumers to each of these contaminants was below tolerable reference doses. However, total risk quotients (THQ) values associated with all the studied TMs are higher than 1 and suggest the presence of a health risk for consumers. Conservation measures for the quality of the environment and vegetable plants are possible.

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