Abstract

The study is purposely to determine the level of heavy metals in vegetables cultivated on waste dumps and seek its implication on the health of its consumers. Many of these waste dump sites have been converted to agricultural sites particularly for the cultivation of vegetables, to achieve both dietary and economic advantages. Farmers are taking advantage of the positive crop yield effect of these dumpsites. However, there are fears about the possible hazards of the consumption of such crops because of the presence of heavy metals. Amaranthus caudatus vegetables grown on an abandoned dumpsite and an adjacent plot were sampled and subjected to laboratory analysis to determine the levels of heavy metals. The result indicated a slightly higher presence of heavy metals in the adjacent plot, 7.27, 6.53 and 0.72 ppm for Fe, Zn and Cu respectively compared to the abandoned dumpsite where 7.10, 5.37 and 0.58 ppm respectively were recorded for the same elements; the values of the heavy metals were found to be within acceptable limits for human consumption. Although, it has been revealed that consumption of the vegetable may be safe in the short run; constant check must be made on the quality of the crop to avert possible human health hazards as a result of possible build up of the heavy metals due to mineralization.

Keywords:

Dumpsite, heavy metals, urban wastes, vegetables, waste disposal,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.