Bioaccumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Three Vegetables Consumed in Lagos, South-West Nigeria

Tajudeen O. Yahaya¹*, Oluwatoyin A. Ogundipe², Abdulmalik Abdulazeez¹, Bello Usman1, Jamilu Danjuma¹

¹Department of Biology, Federal University Birnin Kebbi, Nigeria.

²Department of Environmental Science and Resource Management, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos.

Corresponding Author: [email protected]; [email protected]; Tel: +234-8033550788; +234-98233774

Recieved Date: December 29, 2019; Accepted Date: January 22, 2020; Published Date: 27 January 2020

Citation: Yahaya TO, Ogundipe OA, Abdulazeez A, Usman B, Danjuma J. Bioaccumulation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Three Vegetables Consumed in Lagos, South-West Nigeria. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2020; 4(1): 14 - 20. https://doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v4i1.3

Copyright: © 2020 Yahaya 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

Heavy metal contamination of vegetables is suspected to contribute to the global expansion of chronic diseases, necessitating safety evaluation of all vegetables. This study assessed the safety of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), cupper (Cu), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) in moringa (Moringa oleifera), fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) and roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) sold in Ketu, Ikorodu and Ogba markets in Lagos. After atomic absorption spectroscopy, the daily intake of metals (DIM), the Health Risk Index (HRI), and the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) of the vegetables were determined. The results showed that the metals were within the World Health Organization (WHO) permissible limits. The vegetables from Ogba were the most contaminated, while Ketu were the least. The DIM of Cd from M. oleifera and H. sabdariffa as well as Pb through the consumption of all the vegetables exceeded the recommended limits. These showed that consumption of the three vegetables may predispose consumers to Pb and Cd toxicities. However, only Cd in H. sabdariffa and Pb in T. occidentalis had HRI of 1 and 2, respectively, which specifically indicated the potential toxicity of the two vegetables regarding Cd and Pb. But the THQ of Cd and Pb is less than 1, indicating that the vegetables may not induce a serious health problem in residents within the average life span of Nigerians (54 years). Overall, the results obtained showed that the three vegetables are not entirely safe. Therefore, there is a need to remove all sources of vegetable contamination in the studied areas.