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Lead Contamination in the City of Cuenca

Abstract:

Urban agriculture has emerged as an alternative to the lack of connection between cities and the environment; however, on certain occasions, the presence of heavy metals has been found in urban crops, which implies a risk for consumers. The objective of this study was to determine the level of lead contamination in the city of Cuenca-Ecuador, using vegetables such as cabbage (Brassica viridis), broccoli (Brassica oleracea italica), leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. Crispa), and cabbage lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata), produced in the context of urban agriculture in educational institutions in the north district, historic center, and south district of the city of Cuenca as indicators of contamination. The methodology used started from the deductive method with the information obtained, passing to the comparative method, analyzing the general data using descriptive statistics. The results showed a high concentration of lead in vegetables in the historic center with 115.98 mg/kg, followed by the south district where a concentration of 22.48 mg/kg was found and finally the north district with 6.98 mg/kg, giving a total lead concentration of 145.44 mg/kg in the city of Cuenca-Ecuador.