en عمومى General مقاله اصیل Original Article <p></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">&nbsp;<strong>Background: </strong>Fruits especially citrus species are an integral part of human diet. Contamination of foodstuffs by heavy and toxic metals via environmental pollution has become an inevitable challenge these days. Therefore, the effect of pollutants on food safety for human consumption is a global public concern. In this regards, this study was conducted for Al and Cu health risk assessment through the consumption of citrus species (orange, grapefruit, sweet lime and tangerine) in Hamedan city in 2015.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Methods: </strong>After collecting and preparing 4 samples from each citrus species with acid digestion method, the concentrations of Al and Cu were determined using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP&ndash;OES) with three replications. In addition, SPSS was employed to compare the mean concentrations of metals with maximum permissible limits (MPL) of the World Health Organization (WHO).</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Results: </strong>The results showed that the mean concentrations of Al in citrus samples were 3.25&plusmn;0.35 mg/kg and higher than WHO maximum permissible limits. The mean concentrations of Cu in citrus samples with 0.16&plusmn;0.05 mg/kg are lower than WHO maximum permissible limits. Also, the computed health risk assessment revealed that there was no potential risk for children and adult by consuming the studied citrus.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Based on the results, consumption of citrus species has no adverse effect on the consumers&rsquo; health, but as a result of the increased utilization of agricultural inputs (metal based fertilizers and pesticides, sewage sludge and wastewater) by farmers and orchardists, regular periodic monitoring of chemical pollutants content in foodstuffs are recommended for food safety.</span></p> Citrus, Heavy metal toxicity, Health risk, Food safety, Hamedan 131 135 http://ehemj.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-62&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Oshin Rezaei Raja osh.rezaei@iauh.ac.ir 10031947532846002533 10031947532846002533 No Department of the Environment, College of Basic Sciences, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran Soheil Sobhanardakani s_sobhan@iauh.ac.ir 10031947532846002534 10031947532846002534 Yes Department of the Environment, College of Basic Sciences, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran Mehrdad Cheraghi cheraghi@iauh.ac.ir 10031947532846002535 10031947532846002535 No Department of the Environment, College of Basic Sciences, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran