Comprehensive spectrometric determination of toxic heavy metals in selected fruits and vegetables commonly consumed in South Africa with probabilistic human health implications

• Levels and health risks of heavy metals in fruits and vegetables were investigated. • The digested samples were analyzed using an ICP-MS/HDC. • The significant amounts of heavy metals were detected in the samples investigated. • There is a need for urgent policy measures for risk reduction strategies in food. Soil pollution with heavy metals is common due to their affinity for soil particles and geochemical properties, which makes it easy for them to bioaccumulate in plants and transfer into the edible parts of crops. The distributions and risks associated with certain heavy metals in selected fruit and vegetable samples widely consumed in Johannesburg, South Africa, were investigated. The dried samples were digested using a microwave-assisted digestion system and the filtered digested samples were analyzed using hydrodynamic chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The digested procedure employed in this study yielded a positive recovery that ranged from 78.4 - 107% for the selected heavy metals. The limits of detection and quantification for the analyzed heavy metals ranged from 0.005 to 0.256 µg/L and 0.015 to 0.785 µg/L, respectively. The concentrations of most critical heavy metals were found in the range of not detected (nd) - 203 µg/g dry weight (dw) in fruits and nd - 9.41 µg/g-dw in vegetables obtained from the supermarket. While the concentration range of nd - 115 µg/g-dw and nd - 94.4 µg/g-dw was recorded for the fruits and vegetables obtained from the local market. The associated health risks of heavy metals were found to exceed the permissible limits, indicating a serious concern that the consumption of fruits and vegetables may pose a significant health challenge to consumers. Therefore, this study highlights the significant presence of toxic heavy metals in the food samples that are capable of causing serious health risks to consumers, which require urgent and effective management strategies from the relevant stakeholders to reduce the health risks associated with heavy metal contamination in foodstuffs in South Africa.