Examining Heavy Metal Transfer from Soil to Bread

For Turkish society, bread has been an indispensable part of the kitchen and daily life throughout history. Due to its high consumption in Turkish society, it plays an important role in terms of both health and nutritional habits. Contamination from the soil where wheat is planted to the bread making process is of great importance for health. In this study, the amounts of heavy metals such as aluminum, copper, nickel, chromium, manganese, iron, lead and cadmium in the soil of an agricultural land, in flour obtained from wheat grown there and in bread made from this flour were investigated using ICP-MS. The average levels of Al, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Cd, Fe, Pb and As in soil samples were 120.46, 12.23, 44.9, 93.46, 10.83, 2.06, 196.87, 1.96 and 0.21 mg/kg, respectively. In flour samples, these levels were 17.20, 2.03, 28.93, 26.3, 3.37, 0.09, 30.93, 1.37 and 0.03 mg/kg, respectively. In bread samples, 11.27, 0.77, 8.27, 18.63, 0.4, 0.02, 12.76, 0.04 and 0.001 mg/kg, respectively. The results obtained show that high metal levels in the soil are also found in bread. This indicates that heavy metal levels in bread may pose health risks in long-term consumption. Especially levels of aluminum, nickel, chromium and cadmium metals can cause serious health problems. Therefore, it is important to reduce heavy metal contamination in agriculture and production processes and to conduct regular inspections. Compliance with maximum limits set by health authorities and regulatory agencies is also critical for public health.