Background and Objective: Heavy metals are toxic and can enter the food and thus the health of people who consume these kinds of foods may be affected. The aim of this study was to investigate the concentration of heavy metals in fruits and to estimate the exposure level of heavy metals by fruit consumption.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 60 samples (35 samples of apple fruit and 25 apricot fruit samples) were randomly collected from gardens around Zanjan and Mahneshan city in 2016. The concentration of Pb, Cd, Zn, and Cu were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS software.
Results: The average concentration of the elements in the samples was as follows: Pb (0.121 mg/kg wet weight), Cd (0.052 mg/kg wet weight), Zn (10.63 mg/kg dry weight), and Cu (4.99 mg/kg dry weight). The average lead concentration in apple and apricot was, respectively, 0.17 and 0.057 mg/kg wet weight, cadmium 0.08 and 0.003 mg/kg wet weight, zinc 9.15 and 12.7 mg/kg dry weight, Copper 4.4 and 5.583 mg/kg dry weight. Furthermore, it was found that 28.3% of the samples were contaminated with Pb, 13.3% with Cd and 3.3% with Zn. Cu contamination was not detected above permitted concentration. The concentrations of heavy metals in Zanjan were more than Mahneshan and the concentrations of Pb and Cd in the apple samples were higher than the apricot samples but the concentration of Zn and Cu in the apricot samples were higher than the apple samples.
Conclusion: Heavy metals pollution was found in samples belonging to the gardens around the factories and mines of lead and zinc. However, there is no risk of non-cancerous diseases with the use of these fruits in accordance with the national standard declared per capita.