TY - JOUR
T1 - Heavy metal content of edible plants collected close to an area of intense mining activity (southern Portugal)
AU - Reboredo, Fernando H.
AU - Pelica, João
AU - Lidon, Fernando C.
AU - Ramalho, José C.
AU - Pessoa, Maria F.
AU - Calvão, Teresa
AU - Simões, Manuela
AU - Guerra, Mauro
N1 - Sem PDF conforme o despacho.
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/SFRH/SFRH%2FBPD%2F92455%2F2013/PT#
Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments. M. Guerra acknowledges the support of the FCT, under Contract No. SFRH/BPD/92455/2013.
PY - 2018/8/1
Y1 - 2018/8/1
N2 - The Neves-Corvo mining complex (MC) situated in southern Portugal exploits one of the most world’s important copper deposits. Agricultural soils surrounding the MC, used by the inhabitants for crop production, contain excessive amounts of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Thus, a potential risk to human consumption exists if edible plants grow on these substrata. Arsenic and Pb were not detected in edible samples collected near the MC and 5 km away, but in the leaves—structural or adsorbed onto the surface. In general, Zn was the most mobile element in both contaminated and reference areas as seen by the bioaccumulation factors (BAF). The tolerable upper intake (TUI) values for Cu are a reason of concern, since in 57.1% of the cases, the TUI values are above the recommended upper limit of 5 mg/day, in the case of Ficus carica, Cucurbita pepo, and Phaseolus vulgaris, whereas in 28.6% of the cases, the TUI values are near this limit (C. pepo and Citrus x sinensis). The consumption of such vegetables from these areas must be banned or strongly reduced, since long-term accumulation of Cu can cause a chronic toxicity in humans.
AB - The Neves-Corvo mining complex (MC) situated in southern Portugal exploits one of the most world’s important copper deposits. Agricultural soils surrounding the MC, used by the inhabitants for crop production, contain excessive amounts of As, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Thus, a potential risk to human consumption exists if edible plants grow on these substrata. Arsenic and Pb were not detected in edible samples collected near the MC and 5 km away, but in the leaves—structural or adsorbed onto the surface. In general, Zn was the most mobile element in both contaminated and reference areas as seen by the bioaccumulation factors (BAF). The tolerable upper intake (TUI) values for Cu are a reason of concern, since in 57.1% of the cases, the TUI values are above the recommended upper limit of 5 mg/day, in the case of Ficus carica, Cucurbita pepo, and Phaseolus vulgaris, whereas in 28.6% of the cases, the TUI values are near this limit (C. pepo and Citrus x sinensis). The consumption of such vegetables from these areas must be banned or strongly reduced, since long-term accumulation of Cu can cause a chronic toxicity in humans.
KW - Edible plants
KW - Estimated daily intake
KW - Heavy metals
KW - Mining area
KW - Risk assessment
KW - Tolerable upper intake
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85050528796&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10661-018-6844-7
DO - 10.1007/s10661-018-6844-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 30039190
AN - SCOPUS:85050528796
SN - 0167-6369
VL - 190
JO - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
JF - Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
IS - 8
M1 - 484
ER -