Intake of heavy metals in selected varieties of onion (Allium cepa l.) Grown in the different locations / Akumulacja metali ciężkich w wybranych odmianach cebuli (Allium cepa L.) uprawianych w różnych warunkach

The environmental study, carried out in Slovak Republic, was aimed at the assessment of quality of onion based on the contents of selected heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb and Cd) as well as the possible correlations among heavy metals in soil and onions (Allium cepa L.).

Gained results showed that in some monitored localities the measured values were exceeded in comparison with limit values given by the Law No. 220/2004 (valid in the Slovak Republic) as well as threshold values proposed by European Commission (2006). In our paper, the values of total cadmium content were in the range from 1.15 to 1.34 mg∙kg^-1 and the content of mobile form of lead was in the range from 0.19 to 1.09 mg∙kg^-1. The lead content in all samples (except cv. Red matte grown in locality Klasov) of the onions was also exceeded and the values ranged from 0.05 to 0.21 mg∙kg^-1. Among the varieties statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in the intake of heavy metals were found (Multifactorial analysis of variance, LSD-test contrast P < 0.05) was used to process gained data