Heavy Metals Accumulation in Some Vegetables and Soils in Istanbul

This work was designed to assess the concentration of six toxic metals in the soil and in unwashed andwashed samples of different vegetable species (Petroselinum crispum, Brassica oleraceae var. acephala, Beta vulgarisvar. cicla collected from six different sites (stream side, inner city, industrial, suburban, roadside, and rural)in Istanbul in 2007. Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were determined by using ICP-OES. Itwas found that the average highest values of metal accumulations were detected in unwashed samples. Thecorrelation was significant between metal accumulations and the sites, where the vegetables were grown, inthe industrial areas and along the roadsides. The highest and lowest average values in the vegetables variedbetween 0.24-0.89 μg/g dw for Cd, 3.73-14.04 μg/g dw for Cr, 1.47-5.19 μg/g dw for Cu, 3.13-13.65 μg/gdw for Ni, 29.28-87.00 μg/g dw for Pb, and 3.48-5.74 μg/g dw for Zn. The pattern of total metal contrationsin the vegetables followed Pb>Cr>Ni>Zn>Cu>Cd.