Investigation and Evaluation on Heavy Metal Contaminations of Green Salads and Potato Fried in Different Restaurants and Fresh Vegetables in Some Egyptian Governorates

Abstract

The content of Cd, Pb, Al, and As in fresh vegetables, green salads and potato fried purchased from the Egyptian market and restaurant were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS).The results of this study showed that there was wide variation in the concentration of these metals in vegetables collected from different sites. The highest Cd level in watercress (8.33 mg/Kg) was found in Cairo. Vegetables grown in Cairo and Alexandria had cadmium many folds higher than those of other towns. Lead concentration in potato of Alexandria is more than permitted level. Aluminium (Al) content was high concentration in all vegetable samples and arsenic (As) concentration mostly was appeared in potato. Analytical results indicated that the concentration of Cd, Pb, and As in green salad samples were so few. The highest concentration of Al was detected in salad collected from popular restaurant 8. The results show that the heavy metal content in unprocessed potato appears to be much higher than that in processed potato. The highest levels of Cd, Pb, and Al were detected in popular restaurant 9. Cd and As contents of international chain restaurant 1 were found in high level (2.958 and 0.95mg/Kg).