Abstract
Vegetables with useful phytochemicals, vitamins, protein, carbohydrates, and minerals are nutritional sources and play an important role in the prevention of many chronic diseases. However, vegetables are contaminated with potentially toxic elements caused by anthropogenic and natural activities. Therefore, this study is the first attempt to analyze 14 potentially toxic elements in some of the most consumed vegetables in Kastamonu province located in the Western Black Sea Region of Turkey by using an ICP-OES for the evaluation of the potential human health risks of adults due to potentially toxic elements via ingestion. The concentrations (μg/kg, dw) of Fe, Al, Sr, Mn, Zn, Ti, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, As, Cr, Cd, and Co analyzed in sixty-nine samples belonging to thirty-six different vegetable types varied from 3995 to 968073, 569 to 616664, 2730 to 144287, 843 to 51417, 268 to 34344,