Concentrations of 63 elements in cabbage and sprouts in Denmark

The multi-element levels (μg kg-1, fresh weight) in cabbages (Brassica oleracae L. var. capitata, Scandic) and sprouts (Brassica oleracae L. var. Gemmifera, Explorer) are presented in this paper. The cabbages and sprouts were collected from 10 background areas for each crop, on Funen, in North Jutland, Central Jutland, South East Jutland, and North Zealand, Denmark.

The crops were cultivated with intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides. High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (HRICPMS) was used for analyses of the samples. Mean concentrations of the elements were compared with those reported previously from different other surveys. For the alkaline metals [lithium (Li), rubidium (Rb), and cesium (Cs)], Li showed a higher concentration in cabbage than in sprouts.

For Rb and Cs the pattern was opposite. For the earth alkaline metals [magnesium (Mg), strontium (Sr), and barium (Ba)], the Mg concentration level was higher in sprouts than in cabbage, and Sr and Ba showed the opposite pattern. The concentrations of boron (B), silicon (Si), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), selenium (Se), and tellurium (Te), were higher in sprouts than in cabbage, except for Te, in which the concentration in cabbage was greater than in sprouts.

Actinides [thorium (Th) and uranium (U)] and lanthanides [lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu)] showed the pattern with higher concentration in cabbage than in sprouts.

Cabbage and sprout gave the pattern lead (Pb) greater than cadmium (Cd) and Cd greater than Pb, respectively, showing that cabbage is a stronger Pb uptaker than sprout and sprout stronger Cd uptaker than cabbage. The results provide useful biological, nutritional and background level information on these crops.