Rapid urbanization and industrialization result in serious contamination of soil with
toxic metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd), which can lead to deleterious health
impacts in the exposed population. This study aimed to investigate Pb and Cd contamination
in agricultural soils and vegetables in five different agricultural sites in Pakistan.
The metal transfer from soil-to-plant, average daily intake of metals, and health
risk index (HRI) were also characterized. The Pb concentrations for all soils were
below the maximum allowable limits (MAL 350 mg kg-1) set by State Environmental Protection
Administration of China (SEPA), for soils in China, while Cd concentrations in the
soils were exceeded the MAL (61.7-73.7% and 4.39-34.3%) set by SEPA (0.6 mg kg-),
and European Union, (1.5 mg kg-1) respectively. The mean Pb concentration in edible
parts of vegetables ranged from 1.8 to 11 mg kg-1. The Pb concentrations for leafy
vegetables were higher than the fruiting and pulpy vegetables. The Pb concentrations
exceeded the MAL (0.3 mg kg-1) for leafy vegetables and the 0.1 mg kg-1MAL for fruity
and rooty/tuber vegetables set by FAO/WHO-CODEX. Likewise, all vegetables except Pisum
sativum (0.12 mg kg-1) contained Cd concentrations that exceeded the MAL set by SEPA.
The HRI values for Pb and Cd were <1 for both adults and children for most of the
vegetable species except Luffa acutangula, Solanum lycopersicum, Benincasa hispada,
Momordi charantia, Aesculantus malvaceae, Cucumis sativus, Praecitrullus fistulosus,
Brassica oleracea, and Colocasia esculanta for children. Based on these results, consumption
of these Pb and Cd contaminated vegetables poses a potential health risk to the local
consumers.