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Plopeanu Georgiana Iuliana

Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Garlic Bulbs (Allium Sativum L.) in Correlation with Soil from Private Gardens in the Copșa Mică Area, Romania

Feb 13, 2023 |

Vera Carabulea, Dumitru-Marian Motelică, Nicoleta Olimpia Vrînceanu, Georgiana Plopeanu, Mihaela Costea, Bogdan Ștefan Oprea, Veronica Tănase

ABSTRACT. Heavy metal contamination of soil and plants is a worldwide concern. Copșa Mică in Romania is one of the areas in the country known to have a high level of pollution. Even if metallurgical activities have been reduced or stopped the soil is still polluted. This study aimed to estimate the bioaccumulation of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Zn and Cu) in soil from garlic bulbs (Allium sativum L.) from individual gardens in the Copșa Mică polluted area, Romania. The bioaccumulation of heavy metals in garlic bulbs was estimated based on a data set collected from 44 individual gardens. The value of the linear correlation coefficient between the total cadmium content in the soil and that in the plant was significantly different from zero, indicating a close correlation between the two variables (r = 0.775***). In addition, for zinc (r = 0.649***) and lead (r = 0.423**), simple power-type regressions were found to be best for estimating the bioaccumulation of these elements in garlic bulbs. Only for copper, the value of the linear correlation coefficient was not significantly different from zero (r = 0.274ns), indicating that the estimation of copper accumulation in garlic cannot be described by simple power-type regressions. The results of this study are important for estimating the accumulation of heavy metals in garlic bulbs (head), which are often consumed by the population.

Keywords: heavy metals; soil; garlic; pollution; bioaccumulation.

* Abstract published in Conference Programme dedicated to LIFE SCIENCES TODAY FOR TOMORROW

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Research on the Heavy Metal Content in Onion Bulbs Correlated with Soil From Private Households Located in the Copşa Mică Area, Central Romania

Dec 22, 2022 |

Bogdan Ştefan Oprea, Dumitru-Marian Motelică, Nicoleta Olimpia Vrînceanu, Mihaela Costea, Georgiana Iuliana Plopeanu, Vera Carabulea

ABSTRACT. Food safety and the high demand for food have represented worrisome problems worldwide in recent decades. It is well known that plants can accumulate metals from contaminated soil and through deposits from pollutant emissions released by contaminated sources. Cadmium, copper, zinc, and lead are poisonous elements. The accumulation of heavy metals in plants grown in polluted areas represents a major risk to human and animal health. Soil pollution with heavy metals is a global problem that has an unfavourable impact on the environment. For this study, data collected from 65 individual households located in the Copşa Mică area were used to estimate the bioaccumulation of four different heavy metals [cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu)] in onion bulbs in different scenarios, in correlation with the total metal content from the soil. The highest correlation coefficients were obtained for the regression curves established for the estimation of Cd (r = 0.648***), Zn (r = 0.592***), and Pb (r = 0.525***) in onion bulbs. In the case of copper (Cu), the linear correlation coefficient was insignificant (r = 0.088ns). The mean cadmium and lead values determined in the onion samples from the study area did not exceed the maximum stable levels for these contaminants in vegetables.

Keywords: heavy metals; vegetables; onion; pollution; bioaccumulation.

* Abstract published in Conference Programme dedicated to LIFE SCIENCES TODAY FOR TOMORROW

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© by the authors; licensee Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment, Iasi, Romania. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)