Human health risk assessment caused by nitrate in cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries produced in Jiroft city

Indiscriminate use of nitrogen fertilizers causes the accumulation of nitrate in agricultural products, especially vegetables. The high concentration of nitrate in vegetables can threaten the health of society. The purpose of this study is to investigate the status of nitrate as one of the characteristics of product quality and to estimate the daily uptake and determine the hazard quotients (HQ) of the non-cancerous diseases. Sampling of soil and fruit from a greenhouse (cucumber and strawberry) and a field (cucumber and tomato) in Jiroft was done in 2019. Nitrate concentration was measured by the distillation method.The average concentration of nitrate in strawberries, tomatoes, greenhouse cucumbers and field cucumbers was 55.23, 16.86, 64.16 and 44.39 mg/kg of fresh weight, respectively which were less than the standard limit of nitrates based on the Russian and Iran national standards. The calculated daily uptake was lower than the permitted level (3.7 mg/kg BW). HQ in all products was less than 1, of which the lowest amount was found in strawberries for girls under 6 years old (0.00086) and the highest amount was found in greenhouse cucumbers for girls under 6 years old and for boys 7-14 years old (0.0615). Therefore, strawberry has the least and the greenhouse cucumber has the most health threat potential for the health of consumers. According to the risk index of less than 1 for all age groups, there is no possibility of encountering non-cancerous diseases caused by nitrates through the consumption of vegetables in Jiroft region.