Assessment of the Transfer of Elemental Contaminants from Contiguous Soils to Pumpkin Seeds by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Coefficients of accumulation of 18 elements by pumpkin seeds were determined to assess the necessity of introducing individual standards for the heavy-metal content in this herbal medicine. Elements for which the content must be controlled when assessing the risks of the negative impact of elemental contaminants (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb, Hg, Ni, V) in herbal medicines are shown not to accumulate in pumpkin seeds so there is no need to introduce individual content standards. Non-standardized toxic elements are either absent in pumpkin seeds and contiguous soils (Tl) or weakly accumulated in them (Al, Sr). Conversely, essential elements (Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn) are among the elements that are highly accumulated by pumpkin seeds. An inverse correlation between the content of bioavailable forms of Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Sr, and Zn in the soil and their ability to accumulate in pumpkin seeds was determined based on the calculated Spearman coefficients.