Toxic inorganic pollutants in foods from agricultural producing areas of Southern Italy: Level and risk assessment
This study focused on the inorganic environmental contaminants in specific food products which form part of the
food chain of the population residing in the area of Southern Italy (Gela) where there is a high mortality rate
linked to tumor diseases and congenital malformations. Determination of toxic metals was performed by
Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The toxicological data for every toxic element has
been applied to evaluate the risk for the consumer by calculating the amount of potentially toxic element that
would ingest an average of 60 kg weight individual adult. The analysis of the investigated samples shows a high
level of metal contamination which can be linked both to the polluted water and air. The obtained results give us
an idea about the agricultural products contamination and possible exposure of local people through the food
chain.