Human Health Risk Assessment on the Consumption of Apples Growing in Urbanized Areas: Case of Kharkiv, Ukraine

Abstract

This study aims to determine the safety of consumption of plant products grown in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Kharkiv, as well as many other post-Soviet cities, is environmentally characterized by the widespread growing of edible plants—from industrial areas to school gardens—as well as the presence of a significant number of nature management conflicts, the location of heavy industry, the prevalence of obsolete environmentally unfriendly transport, etc. The article presents the results of the study of apple samples taken in different functional zones of Kharkiv city, Ukraine. The results of the study showed that the maximum levels of heavy metals were exceeded in apple samples from all sampling sites: Pb—from 11.47 to 38.86 times; Cd—from 1.76 to 5.68 times (of the norms of the FAO and EU). The most polluted were samples from the residential areas, which is partly due to significant land pollution from various types of waste. Levels of hazard index (HI) differ by age groups: from 24.37 to 70.11 HI (children group, 1–6 years); from 10.28 to 29.59 HI (children group, 7–16 years); from 0.88 to 2.53 HI (adult group, 18–65 years). Non-carcinogenic risks can be related to disorders of the immune system, blood, urinoexcretory, and nervous systems as well as problems in the functioning of liver and kidneys. The total carcinogenic risk of eating apples exceeds the permissible level.