Our aim was to assess local population exposure to heavy metals resulting from soil and vegetable contamination in Tarnaveni, Romania, an area located near a former chemical factory. We collected residential soil and vegetable samples from Tarnaveni and measured chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and manganese (Mn) levels by atomic absorption spectrometry. We evaluated the relationship between soil and vegetable metals and the distance from the shuttered chemical factory, and calculated the hazard index to assess local population metal exposure via contaminated vegetable ingestion. Soil metal concentrations ranged between 15.6 and 525.8 mg/kg for total Cr, between 25.4 and 559.5 mg/kg for Pb, and between 363.1 and 1389.6 mg/kg for Mn. We found average concentrations of 17.8 mg/kg for total Cr, 2.2 mg/kg for Pb, and 116.6 mg/kg for Mn in local vegetables. We found soil concentrations for all three metals that exceeded normal background levels according to Romanian regulations (Pb exceeded 100 mg/kg in some of the samples), as well as measurable concentrations of metals in all analyzed vegetable samples. These preliminary data underscore a need for a more extensive investigation into associated adverse health effects in the exposed population.
Keywords: Community exposure; Environmental pollution; Industry; Romania.