Human Health Risk Assessment on the Consumption of Apples Growing in Urbanized Areas: Case of Kharkiv, Ukraine

Yuliia Medvedeva, Anatolii Kucher (), Joanna Lipsa and Maria Hełdak
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Yuliia Medvedeva: National Scientific Center «Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research Named after O. N. Sokolovsky», 4, Chaikovska Street, 61024 Kharkiv, Ukraine
Joanna Lipsa: Institute of Spatial Management, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland
Maria Hełdak: Institute of Spatial Management, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, ul. Grunwaldzka 55, 50-357 Wroclaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: This study aims to determine the safety of consumption of plant products grown in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Kharkiv, as well as many other post-Soviet cities, is environmentally characterized by the widespread growing of edible plants—from industrial areas to school gardens—as well as the presence of a significant number of nature management conflicts, the location of heavy industry, the prevalence of obsolete environmentally unfriendly transport, etc. The article presents the results of the study of apple samples taken in different functional zones of Kharkiv city, Ukraine. The results of the study showed that the maximum levels of heavy metals were exceeded in apple samples from all sampling sites: Pb—from 11.47 to 38.86 times; Cd—from 1.76 to 5.68 times (of the norms of the FAO and EU). The most polluted were samples from the residential areas, which is partly due to significant land pollution from various types of waste. Levels of hazard index (HI) differ by age groups: from 24.37 to 70.11 HI (children group, 1–6 years); from 10.28 to 29.59 HI (children group, 7–16 years); from 0.88 to 2.53 HI (adult group, 18–65 years). Non-carcinogenic risks can be related to disorders of the immune system, blood, urinoexcretory, and nervous systems as well as problems in the functioning of liver and kidneys. The total carcinogenic risk of eating apples exceeds the permissible level.

Keywords: urban agriculture; heavy metals; environmental safety; human health; hazard index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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