Abstract
This study aimed to determine the potentially toxic metal contents in soil and spinach samples in areas irrigated with industrial wastewater and to evaluate the potentially toxic metal accumulation in spinach samples according to pollution indices. Water, soil and spinach samples were analysed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer AAS-300). In this study, it was determined that the potentially toxic metal values in the spinach samples irrigated with groundwater and sugar industry wastewater varied between 1.59 and 1.84, 0.22–0.68, 0.56–1.14, 1.41–1.56, 1.62–3.23, 0.57–1.02, 0.86–1.33, 0.20–0.32 and 0.35–2.10 mg/kg for Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn, respectively. It was concluded that the difference between the metal values in the spinach samples according to the irrigation sources was statistically significant, except for Cu and Pb (
p
> 0.05). According to the results of this study, there is no health risk for Pb, Co and Cr with HRI values below 1.0, while there is a risk for Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Mn and Zn. The much higher HRI values of Cd than 1 (196.8 and 169.6) suggested that this metal is likely to cause significant health problems in the region.