A Scoping Review of Heavy Metal Contamination in Urban Market Vegetables and Biomarker Evidence of Consumer Exposure in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo: An African Perspective, 2014

Urban Farm DB summary

This scoping review synthesized evidence on the association between heavy metal contamination in vegetables sold in Kinshasa's urban markets, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and human biomarkers of consumer exposure. Available evidence consistently showed that vegetables, particularly leafy greens, from Kinshasa markets contained elevated levels of lead and cadmium, often exceeding international safety limits. However, studies directly linking vegetable contamination with human biomarkers are notably scarce, suggesting a potential exposure pathway but not establishing definitive causation.