Arsenic uptake and accumulation in curly endives (Cichorium endivia L.) irrigated with contaminated water.
Arsenic accumulation in vegetables for direct human consumption represents a concern for food safety purposes. This potential problem can be of economic importance particularly in much appreciated, high-quality horticultural products. In this work, a greenhouse set of experiments were conducted to evaluate possible phytotoxic effects and arsenic accumulation in the production of curly endives with arsenic contaminated water.Two concentration levels (0.5 mg/L and 1.0 mg/L) and two arsenic species (As+3 and As+5) were considered. Dry mass production tended to be reduced as As+3 concentration increased in irrigation water. However, As+5 treatments did not show significant dry mass production differences with a blank (control experiment). As accumulation in plant increased with As concentration in irrigation waters, following a linear trend. Nevertheless, the increase of accumulated As was not statistically significant for As+5 at 0.5 mg/L. Calculated biological absorption coefficients resulted in higher than previous values reported in the literature, which was attributed here to the source of arsenic (irrigation water). Considering field values for As+5/As+3 ratio and averaged concentrations in water, the obtained results support that there is not a short-or medium-term risk to food safety in the curly endive crop in the region of Castilla y León (Spain).
Calvo
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Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain. calrevca@itacyl.es
Bolado
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S
Alvarez-Benedí
J
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Andrade
M A
MA
D001151:Arsenic / Q000378:metabolism*; D018651:Cichorium intybus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000737:chemistry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D001151:Arsenic