ASSESSMENT OF CADMIUM LEVELS IN SELECTED LOCAL AND IMPORTED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IN MULTAN PAKISTAN: A STUDY ON HEALTH RISKS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71000/xz52hh14Keywords:
Cadmium, Heavy Metals, Environmental Monitoring, Food Contamination, Food Safety, Pakistan, VegetablesAbstract
Background: Heavy metals represent one of the most pressing environmental hazards, with cadmium being a highly toxic element that adversely affects both crop quality and human health. Agricultural soils in developing countries, including Pakistan, are increasingly contaminated due to the use of phosphate fertilizers, untreated wastewater, and industrial effluents. Such contamination promotes cadmium accumulation in edible crops, where consumption poses risks of kidney dysfunction, osteoporosis, and cancer. Monitoring cadmium levels in food products is therefore essential to safeguard consumer health.
Objective: The study was designed to evaluate cadmium concentrations in the peels and pulp of locally grown and imported fruits and vegetables commonly consumed in Multan, Pakistan.
Methods: A total of 22 samples representing 11 types of fruits and vegetables, including apples, oranges, cucumbers, and potatoes, were analyzed. Each sample was separated into peel and pulp, dried at 190°C for 24 hours, ground, and digested using a mixture of nitric and perchloric acids. Cadmium concentrations were quantified using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Data were statistically evaluated to compare cadmium levels between peels and pulps as well as across different plant types and origins.
Results: The results showed that in 10 out of 11 samples, cadmium concentrations were higher in the pulp than in the peel. The highest pulp concentration was observed in cucumbers from Multan Saddar (0.43 ppm), exceeding the WHO permissible limit of 0.1 ppm by 0.33 ppm. Oranges obtained from fruit vendor shops also exceeded the safe threshold with a pulp concentration of 0.16 ppm. Conversely, the lowest levels were recorded in peels of Multani apples (0.00093 ppm) and oranges (0.00031 ppm). Potatoes showed a unique pattern with higher cadmium accumulation in peels (0.16 ppm) than in pulp (0.034 ppm).
Conclusion: The study highlighted the presence of cadmium contamination in fruits and vegetables from Multan, with certain commodities surpassing permissible safety limits. These findings emphasize the need for strict monitoring of irrigation water and fertilizers, alongside promoting sustainable agricultural practices, to reduce cadmium accumulation and ensure food safety.
References
Zhang LY, Zhao KL, Fu WJ. [Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Cadmium Pollution in Soil-crops system of an E-waste Dismantling Area]. Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2021;42(9):4432-40.
Shen C, Fu HL, Liao Q, Huang BF, Huang YY, Xin JL. Selection for low-cadmium cultivars and cadmium subcellular distribution comparison between two selected cultivars of eggplant (Solanum melongena L.). Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021;28(41):57739-50.
Sun YX, Ji BT, Chen JH, Gao LL, Sun Y, Deng ZP, et al. Ratiometric emission of Tb(III)-functionalized Cd-based layered MOFs for portable visual detection of trace amounts of diquat in apples, potatoes and corn. Food Chem. 2024;449:139259.
Aksouh MY, Boudieb N, Benosmane N, Moussaoui Y, Michalski R, Klyta J, et al. Presence of Heavy Metals in Irrigation Water, Soils, Fruits, and Vegetables: Health Risk Assessment in Peri-Urban Boumerdes City, Algeria. Molecules. 2024;29(17).
Muhammad SK, Shaikh BA, Gurbakshani KM, Jalbani AU. Frequency triple hepatitis (hepatitis B and C and D virus) in HBs Ag positive patients. Rawal Medical Journal. 1970 Jan 1;37(2):142-.
Hoaghia MA, Cadar O, Moisa C, Roman C, Kovacs E. Heavy metals and health risk assessment in vegetables grown in the vicinity of a former non-metallic facility located in Romania. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022;29(26):40079-93.
Liao KW, Luo MP, Chen ML, Chen YH, Say YH, Chin WS. Health risk assessment of heavy metals with nephrotoxic effects from vegetables and fruits: Taiwan Food-Related Environmental Surveillance of Hazards (T-FRESH). Food Chem Toxicol. 2025;204:115623.
Edition, Fourth. "Guidelines for drinking-water quality." WHO chronicle 38.4 (2011): 104-8.
PatiÑo M, Valencia-Guerrero MF, Barbosa-Ángel ES, MartÍnez-CordÓn MJ, Donado-Godoy P. Evaluation of Chemical and Microbiological Contaminants in Fresh Fruits and Vegetables from Peasant Markets in Cundinamarca, Colombia. J Food Prot. 2020;83(10):1726-37.
Hao H, Li P, Li Y, Lv Y, Chen W, Xu J, et al. Driving effects and transfer prediction of heavy metal(loid)s in contaminated courtyard gardens using redundancy analysis and multilayer perceptron. Environ Monit Assess. 2022;195(1):46.
Zhu J, Yin H, Wang Y, Wang L, Geng X, Deng Y. Conformational change-based fluorometric aptasensor for sensitive cadmium(II) detection in fruits and vegetables. Anal Methods. 2024;16(34):5826-34.
Chen L, Yang L, Li H, Liang XY, Ma JJ, Wang JM, et al. [Cadmium Content Characteristics, Health Risk Assessment, and Soil Environmental Benchmarks in Farmland Soil and Agricultural Products in Ningxia]. Huan Jing Ke Xue. 2025;46(4):2580-9.
Maltzahn LE, Zenker SG, Lopes JL, Pereira RM, Verdi CA, Rother V, et al. Brazilian Genetic Diversity for Desirable and Undesirable Elements in the Wheat Grain. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2021;199(6):2351-65.
Zhang X, Yang X, Hu X, Meng Z, Yu Z, Sun Z, et al. Biomonitoring and food surveillance on heavy metals reveal need for food safety in a coastal region. Food Res Int. 2025;203:115858.
Topdas EF, Isci G, Dagdemir E. Analysis and health risk assessments of heavy metals and nitrate migration into pickle beverages. Food Sci Technol Int. 2023;29(6):650-64.
Kumar, Rakesh, et al. "Bioaccumulation of fluoride in plants and its microbially assisted remediation: a review of biological processes and technological performance." Processes 9.12 (2021): 2154.
Proshad R, Idris AM. Evaluation of heavy metals contamination in cereals, vegetables and fruits with probabilistic health hazard in a highly polluted megacity. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023;30(32):79525-50.
Hussein, S. A., M. H. Rathi, and T. J. Kadhim. "Determination of the levels of lead and cadmium in canned fish and meat, imported to the local markets of Diyala Province, Iraq." IOP conference series: Earth and environmental science. Vol. 790. No. 1. IOP Publishing, 2021.
Einolghozati, Mahtab, et al. "The level of heavy metal in fresh and processed fruits: a study meta-analysis, systematic review, and health risk assessment." Biological trace element research 201.5 (2023): 2582-2596.
Afrin, Sadia, et al. "Determination and probabilistic health risk assessment of heavy metals in widely consumed market basket fruits from Dhaka city Bangladesh." International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry 104.1 (2024): 215-230.
Mawari, Govind, et al. "Heavy metal accumulation in fruits and vegetables and human health risk assessment: findings from Maharashtra, India." Environmental Health Insights 16 (2022): 11786302221119151.
Hoaghia, Maria-Alexandra, et al. "Heavy metals and health risk assessment in vegetables grown in the vicinity of a former non-metallic facility located in Romania." Environmental Science and Pollution Research 29.26 (2022): 40079-40093.
USE OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES IN PERIODONTAL TREATMENT. RMSR [Internet]. 2025 Feb. 12 [cited 2025 Aug. 27];3(2):398-409. Available from: https://medscireview.net/index.php/Journal/article/view/614.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Muhammad Usama Aslam, Esha Aslam, Muhammad Shahbaz, Zaima Riaz, Zaveeba Arif (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
