Researches on the accumulation and transfer of heavy metals in the soil in tomatoes -Solanum lycopersicum

¹ INMA National Institute of Research -Development for Machines and Installations designed to Agriculture and Food Industry, Bucharest
² USAMVBT Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine “King Mihai I of Romania”, Timisoara
³ IBA National Institute of Research and Development for Food Bioresources, Bucharest
⁴ S.C. HOFIGAL Export Import S.A.
⁵ Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Medical Dentistry, “Vasile Goldiş” Western University, Arad
⁶ INCDPM National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection, Bucharest

^* Corresponding author: pruteanu_augustina@yahoo.com

Abstract

Heavy metals in contaminated soils have benefited from a considerable attention due to the possible risks for the human body.

The current study has investigated the accumulation and transfer coefficient for three heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn) found in the contaminated soil with three concentrations (c1=1.5%, c2=3.0%, c3=4.5%, c4=6.0%), obtained by mixing the three metals, in the tomato fruit. The highest accumulation in the tomato fruits was recorded for zinc, then copper and the smallest for lead, for all four concentrations used. The transfer coefficient decreases as the concentration of heavy metals increases, so that for high heavy metals concentrations, the values of the transfer coefficient are very low, and for small heavy metals concentrations in the soil, the values for the transfer coefficient are higher.

The assessment of accumulation and transfer of heavy metals in the fruits of tomatoes grown in the contaminated soil has concluded that all concentrations of the copper, lead and zinc mix have shown a low risk for human consumption.