ABSTRACT
Accumulation of heavy metals in food is a major concern for humans’ health. This study was aimed at determining the levels of Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn in chickpea, lentil and pea samples and evaluating the health risk for consumers. The concentrations (in mg/kg) of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, and Ni were varied from 23.6–48, 67.7–132.3, 15–26.5, 37.6–68.2, and 25.5–33.3 in chickpea, 39.8–80.5, 116.1–180.5, 12.1–21.6, 36.4–57.2, and 25.4–34.1 for lentil and 32–64.2, 51.6–100.0, 6.3–15, 25.3–42.5, and 25.5–48.5 for peas, respectively. Pearson correlation verified that strong positive correlations were observed between Cu and Zn in lentils, Ni and Mn, Fe with Cu and Mn in peas. Target hazard quotients (THQ) except Ni in all samples, Cu in lentil and pea were < 1 and the hazard index (HI) values of all heavy metals were greater than 1, thus an appropriate strategy is required to reduce exposure to heavy metals.
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Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).