Two toxic heavy metals, cadmium (Cd(II)) and lead (Pb(II)), in samples of local vegetables were analyzed bygraphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS). Pak-Leang (Gnetum gnemonLinn.), Pak-Waen (Marsilea crenata Presl.), Mun-Poo (Glochidion littorale Blume Baill.), and Chamuang (Garcinia cowa Roxb.) were from fresh markets in 4 districts namely Muang, Phunphin, Kanchanadit and Ban Na Doem, Surat Thani province. The preparation of samples was carried out by mixed acid digestion procedure in order to extract the heavy metals. From the GFAAS analysis of samplesolutions, the average lead contents were as follows: 0.10 ± 0.11 mg kg-1in Pak-Leang, 0.04 ± 0.07 mg kg-1in Pak-Waen, 0.14 ± 0.17 mg kg-1in Mun-Poo and 0.02 ± 0.05 mg kg-1in Chamuang. The results indicated that the concentrations of lead within these local vegetables were under the maximum allowable level according to the standard of the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. On the other hand, analysis of cadmium found that 3 certain vegetables including Pak-Waen (0.48 ± 0.27 mg kg-1), Mun-Poo (0.78 ± 0.72 mg kg-1) and Chamuang (0.34 ± 0.27mg kg-1), were contaminated with cadmium higher than the maximum allowable levels in the average for the standards of Australia-New Zealand, Codex, China andthe European Union. The assessment of heavy metal indicated that these accumulation quantities in edible plants could be valuably evident for public concerns and research-based food safety.Keywords: Lead, cadmium, local vegetables, atomic absorption spectrometry, Surat ThaniIntroductionHeavy metals are consi
Analysis-of-Lead-and-Cadmium-Contents-in-Local-Vegetables-in-Surat-Thani-Thailand