A field survey was carried on in Gyo¨ngyo¨soroszi, Hungary, near to an abandoned lead/zinc mine to analyse the metal contamination
of flooded and non-flooded vegetable gardens, and to evaluate the health risks to local population. Contamination levels of arsenic, cadmium,
lead, mercury and zinc were measured in soil and homegrown vegetable samples and bioconcentration factors and hazard indices
were calculated. The high metal contents of flooded vegetable gardens were caused by floods, the results indicated significant differences
between flooded and non-flooded vegetable gardens. The most accumulating vegetable was sorrel, the most mobile elements were cadmium
and lead. Arsenic was not available for vegetables. The health risk was calculated for two exposure routes: ingestion of soil and
ingestion of vegetables. The site-specific exposure parameters were established after a population based survey and a special equation was
created to calculate the health risk due to homegrown vegetable consumption. The highest risk was associated with ingestion of vegetables,
the most hazardous element being lead. The hazard index did not exceed the threshold value of one in flooded or non-flooded
gardens. The analyses of health risk indicated that despite the high metal concentrations of soil the contamination of vegetable gardens
does not pose an unacceptable risk to the inhabitants of the village.