Trace element transfer from soil to vegetables around the lead smelter in Baia Mare, NW Romania

Baia Mare is a mining and metallurgical centre in North-west Romania producing lead and copper for over 150 years. The lead smelter is located in Ferneziu district in a relative densely populated area. We collected 11 soil samples around the lead smelter and also 44 vegetable samples of 8 vegetable species commonly grown in gardens in Ferneziu district. The contents of trace elements (As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn and Co) in soil and vegetables were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The average contents of As and heavy metals in the edible part of vegetable samples were: As 1.21; Pb 29.21; Cd 1.23; Zn 82.72; Cu 10.4; Ni 0.44; Mn 18.88 and Co 0.18 mg kg -1 dry weight (DW) while in the soil samples they were: 143.45; 3058.82; 6.28; 976.82; 607.82; 4.20; 1239.27 and 4.63 mg kg -1 DW. Pollution indexes were used in order to characterize the overall degree of soil and vegetable contamination with As and heavy metals. Pb is the prevalent pollutant element both in soil and vegetables but also important pollutants were Cd, As, Zn and Cu, while Co, Mn and Ni do not present any hazard due to their presence in soil or in plants. Transfer factors (TF) were calculated and they decrease in the following order: Cd > Ni > Zn > Co > Cu > Mn > Pb≈As. The high values of Cd TF for some vegetables like carrot, parsley and dill are of big concern. The consumption of the vegetables grown in Ferneziu area poses risk on the health of residents especially for vegetables having high values of TF or high concentration of pollutant elements (Cd, Pb, Zn and As) in the soil in their gardens.