ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METALS IN DIFFERENT WINTER VEGETABLES COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT SUPER SHOPS LOCATED IN DHAKA CITY

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to measure the content of heavy metals such as Arsenic (As). Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb) in different winter vegetables collected from different outlets of four super shops (Aagora, Nandan, Swapno and Meena Bazaar) located in Dhaka city using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The result of this study showed that, there was a common sequence in heavy metal content was found in different vegetables of different outlets. In case of As content in different outlets, the descending order of the vegetables were Red Spinach> Radish> Brinjal> Cauliflower> Bean> Bottle Gourd> Carrot. For Cd the order was, Bottle Gourd> Brinjal > Radish> Bitter Gourd> Cabbage. For Pb the order was, Bottle Gourd > Brinjal > Radish> Bean. Among the four outlets the range of As, Cd and Pb concentration in the vegetables were 0.41-1.37 tg g', 0.2 1-0.59 .xg g1, 0.07-0.81 ltg g4 respectively. Among the concentrations of As Cd and Pb in different vegetables from different outlets, highest As content (1.37 jig g') was found below the maximum permissible limit (2.6 ig g") of various international authorities except Cd (0.59 jig g) and Pb (0.81 .tg g4) that exceeded the recommended limit (0.2, 0.3 jig respectively) in vegetable. The result also noticed that the highest content of As and Pb were found in lea& vegetables and the highest Cd was found in fruity vegetables.