Local farming quality and food composition : The case of Carrasqueira Village, Portugal

Castanheira, Isabel; Coelho, Inês; Gueifão, Sandra; Saraiva, Marina; Martinho, Ana Paula; Fernandes, Ana Paula; Caeiro, Sandra

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/1918

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Abstract(s)

The Sado estuary, located in the West Coast of Portugal, is partially classified as a natural reserve, but is threatened by many sources of anthropogenic pressure and runoff from agriculture grounds, originating a moderately contaminated estuary in some hot-spot areas. The small fishermen community of the Carrasqueira Village is located on the south margin of the Sado Estuary where previous epidemiological studies confirmed several human exposure routes to Sado estuary contaminants namely trough occupation, water and food consumption. The aim of this work is to evaluate the contamination and mineral profile from local farming as an important food intake of the Carrasqueira community. Another population VNMF, established near a pristine estuary, (the Mira Estuary) was surveyed as reference. According to a food frequency questionnaire conducted in the exposure population, the most frequent vegetables are tomato, lettuce, cabbage and potatoes. Samples of these vegetables, as well as soil and water were collected from three backyards in each population and analysed by ICP-MS and ICP-OES . Contents in phosphorus, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, chromium, manganese, nickel, copper, zinc, arsenic, selenium, cadmium ,lead, were evaluated. The obtained results show that tomatoes and lettuces grown in Carrasqueira farms present the highest content of copper (676±6.45 µg.kg-1 and 255±3.62 µg.kg-1 respectively). Trace amounts of selenium were detected in vegetables from different farms (5-9 µg.kg-1). The highest amount of zinc was found in lettuce grown in Carrasqueira 2 (4604±30.74 µg.kg-1). The lowest content of strontium was found in lettuce grown in VNMF (559±21.38 µg.kg-1). In all analysed samples the observed values for cadmium and lead were below levels set by European legislation. The results show that nutritional quality of local farming vegetables near pollution sources should be accessed taking into account not only nutrients but also contaminants analysis for food safety.