The heavy metals concentration in t

The heavy metals concentration in the vegetables tested obtained
from the production and market sites were compared. The
concentrations of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb elevated by 36%, 50%, 100%
and 44% in palak, by 12%, 32%, 57% and 17% in lady’s finger and
by 114%, 23%, 103% and 53% in cauliflower, respectively. This result
suggests that all the vegetables tested were contaminated maximally
by Cd during their transport and marketing in the contaminated
environment of Varanasi. The percent increase in the levels
of heavy metals was recorded maximum in cauliflower (except
for Zn) followed by palak and then lady’s finger at all the months
of sampling (Figs. 6 and 7). The results further showed that the
atmospheric depositions have contributed more than 50% of Zn
and Cd to palak, Cd in lady’s finger and Cu, Cd and Pb in cauliflower.
The monthly variations in the concentrations of heavy metals
in vegetables tested at the production sites may be due to their
different uptake rate. The levels of all the heavy metal in all the
vegetables tested collected from the market sites were higher than
those of heavy metals in the respective vegetables collected from
the production site (Figs. 6 and 7).