Multi-element survey of allotment produce and soil in the UK

Claire Weeks (1) , Steven N Brown (2) , Ignacio Vazquez (3) , Kara Thomas (3) , Malcolm Baxter (4) , Paul Warriss (2) , Toby Knowles (2)

1 School of Veterianry Science
2 School of Veterinary Science
3 Food Standards Agency
4 Central Science Laboratory

A survey in 2004 of 12 metals was carried out in 6 rural and 6 urban allotment sites across mainland Britain. Analysis used ICP-MS in 215 samples of vegetables and 36 samples of soft fruit; and ICP-OES in 51 samples of soil On a fresh weight basis levels (mg/kg) in produce of Cu were in the range 0.119 - 2.271. The highest levels (mg/kg) measured were Pb 0.164 in a sample of blackcurrants, Cd 0.039 in spinach, Hg 0.003 in curly kale and As 0.025 in raspberries. The lowest concentrations for these metals were below the level of detection (LOD) in numerous samples. The majority of Pt samples were below LOD and all were under the limit of quantification (LOQ). The results of the survey showed that the concentrations of the metals in vegetables, fruit and soils were consistent with previous studies and in general at low levels.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Claire Weeks, Steven N Brown, Ignacio Vazquez, Kara Thomas, Malcolm Baxter, et al.. Multi-element survey of allotment produce and soil in the UK. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2007, 24 (08), pp.877-885. ⟨10.1080/02652030701305462⟩. ⟨hal-00577288⟩