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Heavy Metal Accumulation and Health Risk Assessment in Moringa Oleifera from Awi Zone, Ethiopia

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Abstract

Moringa oleifera is rich in minerals and medicinally important tree species of family Moringaceae. In this study the concentration of selected heavy metals (cadmium, copper, chromium, lead and zinc) in Moringa oleifera leaves collected from Guangua and Zigem woredas in Awi Zone, Ethiopia using ICP-OES. The concentrations of metals in Moringa oleifera at Guangua and Zigem were found to be 9.0 and 4.35 mg/kg for Cr, 8.7 and 7.1 mg/kg for Cu and 56.7 and 28.8 mg/kg for Zn, respectively. However, the concentrations of Pb and Cd in all samples were below the detection limit. The concentration of Cu in Guangua and Zigem; and Zn in Zigem were below the permissible limit recommended by WHO. However, the concentration of Cr in both Guangua and Zigem; and Zn in Guangua were found above the permissible limit set by WHO. The validity of the optimized digested procedure was evaluated by spiking the digested samples with standard solution of metals and the percentage recoveries were found in the range 95.8 to 110.0%. The THQ values of Cr were found > 1, indicating that the consumption of Moringa oleifera may cause possible non-carcinogenic health risk. The values health index (HI) were of 9.866 and 4.882 at Guangua and Zigem, respectively, clearly suggests the possible adverse health effect to adult population from the consumption of Moringa oleifera the study areas.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Gondar, P. O. Box 196, Gondar, Ethiopia

    Tewodros Adefa & Molla Tefera

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  1. Tewodros Adefa
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  2. Molla Tefera
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Correspondence to Molla Tefera.

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Adefa, T., Tefera, M. Heavy Metal Accumulation and Health Risk Assessment in Moringa Oleifera from Awi Zone, Ethiopia. Chemistry Africa 3, 1073–1079 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42250-020-00181-0

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