91桃色

Assessing the Health Risk of Nitrate Content in Vegetables to the General Population in Tehran-Iran

Research Article Open 91桃色

Parisa Ziarati*

Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Islamic Azad University-Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch (IAUPS) Tehran, Iran

*Corresponding authors: Parisa Ziarati Assistant Professor of Chemistry Islamic Azad University Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch (IAUPS) Faculty of Pharmacy, Toxicogenomics lab. No 99, Yakhchal Gholhak, Dr. Shariati, Tehran-Iran Tel: +98-21-22600037 Fax: +98-21-22633986 E-mail: parziarati@yahoo.com, ziarati.p@iaups.ac.ir

Received February 03, 2012; Published August 24, 2012

Citation: Ziarati P (2012) Assessing the Health Risk of Nitrate Content in Vegetables to the General Population in Tehran-Iran. 1: 241. doi:10.4172/scientificreports.241

Copyright: © 2012 Ziarati P, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Nitrate is found naturally in foods and in high concentrations in certain vegetables. European Union Food Commission (CECSCF, 1992) states the daily acceptable intake level of nitrate as 0-3.65 mg/kg. The objective of this study is to assess the relative safety of Tehran leafy vegetables based on world standard nitrate limits & potential health risk to local inhabitants. A systematic survey of nitrate and nitrite concentrations in vegetables from 910 samples (from 10 different markets during 12 consecutive months of 2011) in Tehran was carried out. Results were compared with the permissible limits (PL), acceptable daily intake (ADI) and provisional maximum tolerable daily intake (PMTDI) as set by World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives (JECFA). The results indicated that the mg of nitrate concentrations/ kg fresh weight in vegetables ranged from 820 to 4788 in lettuce, 3004 to 5011 in celery and 2989-5036 in spinach, with average concentration of 2989-5036 mg/kg FW, respectively. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of nitrate from lettuce and cabbage showed nitrate levels were much higher than maximum EC levels. Potential health risks from exposure to nitrate in these vegetables need more attention. A highly significant, although low, positive correlation was found between nitrate and nitrite contents of the winter and spring grown vegetables, compared to summer and autumn grown vegetables.

Keywords

Nitrate; Nitrite; leafy vegetables; Risk assessment; Tehran

Introduction

Nitrate content is an important quality characteristic of vegetables. Vegetable nitrate content is of interest to governments and regulators owing to the possible implications for health and to check that controls on the content are effective. Nitrate itself is relatively non-toxic but its metabolites may produce a number of health effects [1]. More than three quarters of our average nitrate intake comes from vegetables [2], which provide about 80% of the average daily dietary intake [3]. Vegetables that may accumulate nitrate in their tissues are leafy vegetables such as Spinach, Lettuce, and Cabbage, or root crops like carrot, Potatoes, and others like Cauliflower, beans and peas. The Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of nitrate and nitrite set by European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Food (ECSCF), is 3.7 mg/kg body weight, and 0.06 mg/ kg body weight, respectively [WHO, 1995] [4]. The nitrite and nitrate concentrations in vegetables depends on a number of factors such as season, light, temperature , method of growth , species variation and fertilizers. Agriculture is considered the major source of nitrate and nitrite in the environment [5]. The excessive use of the pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture with the threat of these chemicals in crops and water has become one of the most important public awareness issues. Therefore, the aim of this work was to examine some of the most common vegetables found in Tehran markets for its nitrate and nitrite contents.

The Objectives of the Present Work

- Determination of the level of nitrate and nitrite in Lettuce, Celery, Spinach, Cabbage, Chinese cabbage, carrot and potato crops sold in Tehran markets.

- Determination the effect of seasons on the level of nitrate and nitrite in Tehran’s leafy vegetable and crops sold in Tehran markets.

- Assess the associated health risk posed to the Tehran population through exposure to nitrate from vegetables.