Health Risk Assessment and Determination of Heavy Metal Contamination in Barley Grains in Khuzestan Province, Iran

Background & Aims of the Study:

 Heavy metal pollution has become a global problem, and their entry into the food chain is considered a threat to humans and other organisms. This study aimed to assess the risk of metals (chromium, nickel, arsenic, copper, zinc, cadmium, and lead) in edible barley grains grown in Khuzestan Province, Iran, in 2019.

In this analytical study, five farms of edible barley grains were selected. Then, four stations were selected in each farm. After sampling, barley seeds were prepared by acid digestion method and read by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. The amount of metal contamination in the grains was estimated by the crop pollution index based on the classification of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Hazard Index (HI), and the risk of carcinogenic risk in children and adults.

The highest amounts of heavy metals in barley grains belonged to zinc and the lowest to chromium. According to the USEPA classification, the potential non-carcinogenic risk for children was higher than for adults, and the HI in all study areas was at level 3 for adults and children and level 4 in some stations for children. In the case of barley samples, the average carcinogenic risk for arsenic was 2 per 10000 people for adults and 4 per 10000 for children, and cadmium was 1 per 10000 people for adults and 2 per 10000 for children in the population of the province. These figures were estimated to be at a safe level.

Barley is one of the foods of the people of the region. The use of its contaminated amounts due to the biological accumulation of heavy metals can create health risks for its consumers in the long run.