Nowadays soil contamination practices create hazardous environment impact that is a vital issue to prevent heavy metals from their integration in the food chain. Plant species selected for this study were the ingredients of the traditional Lebanese salad, Tabbouli, composed of parsley and lemon that were selected from Damour, olive and onion from Ghazir, peppermint and tomato from Akkar and bulgur, to fulfill all the requirements for the assessment of the major physicochemical properties and the contamination levels in vegetables from soils with heavy metal elements. The major physicochemical properties of topsoil including pH, organic matter content method (LOI) and texture showed that studied soils were almost neutral pH of 7.09 with an organic matter content of 4.22% and a texture of sandy loam. Concentration ranges of As, Cu, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ni, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb and P in studied soil samples were determined and assessed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy, following aqua regia digestion and weak acetic acid digestion. Also, similar measurements on studied plant samples following microwave assisted digestion by HNO3/H2O2 were determined and transfer factors from soils to vegetables were accordingly calculated because of their health risk. Results showed that concentrations of most of studied elements in soil and plant samples were recorded above the permissible limits set by International standards for agricultural soils and by International standards for vegetables FAO/WHO. Furthermore, soil to plant transfer is the major path way of human exposure to potentially toxic elements contamination. Good manufacturing and agricultural practices and safety measurements have to be strictly adapted.

Preliminary data on heavy metals concentrations in soil and edible plants of DamourLebanon are presented for the first time. Concentration ranges of Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, Mn, Fe, Ba, Pb and Cd in

Abstract

Cannabis has garnered a great deal of new attention in the past couple of years due to the increasing hopes of its legalization for recreational use and indications for medicinal benefit. The increasing consumption and cultivation has led to a multiplication of scientific studies. Focus was placed in this study foremost on yielding morphological data (length of the plant, inflorescence fresh and dry weight) for appropriate mechanical harvest and biochemical cannabinoids analysis of the industrial cannabis “Finola” that is newly grown in Greece. The average, standard error and the coefficient of variation were estimated in case of necessity and the correlation among all results was done using Microsoft Excel 2010 and Minitab 19 Software. Furthermore, three chemical analyses for TLC and NMR techniques were applied for analysis. The Cannabinoid quality or chemotype analysis was also calculated. After extraction and isolation of cannabinoids using ethanol and other separation compounds, cannabinoid acids, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and some other cannabinoids were extracted, isolated, identified and isolated with no delays or limitations. Finola cannabis provided a scientific background that may be considered by the Lebanese growers to accelerate and improve the relative mentality and to provide a collection of relevant scientific information, upon which the field of cannabis analysis can continue to grow.

Evolution in the legislation of Cannabis in Lebanon regarding production and consumption of related products for medicinal and recreational uses is leading to emerging regulations regarding the potency and cannabinoid profiles. On 21 April 2020, the Parliament passed a law legalizing cannabis cultivation for medical use. The objective of this work was to estimate the heavy metals accumulation in the soil-plant system and to help the governmental regulatory body on having also into account the impurities of metals within their rules of regulation. The impurity content of hyperaccumulating metals (zinc, chromium, arsenic, manganese, cadmium, barium, aluminum, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and lead) was evaluated by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) taking into account the pseudototal and mobilizable concentrations of the elements in the rhizosphere of plants and the total concentrations of their aerial parts and spikes from allotments in Kropia region-Athens, Greece. The main physicochemical assets of topsoil samples such as pH (7.99±0.05) and organic matter content (rich), the X-ray crystallography test (basically quartz, albite and vermiculite) and soil texture determination test (basically sandy loam soil) were also determined. The concentrations of most of our studied elements in soil plant system samples were recorded below or around the plant reference material concentrations used in our analysis. Results showed also that Al was highly toxic in soil and plant samples. In the plant samples, the arsenic was nearly absent and the lead, nickel, copper, chromium and cadmium contents were less than those found in the plant reference material. In the soil samples, only copper and zinc concentrations were found to be within the accepted ranges. The maximum transfer factor is found in lead (Tf – Pb = 0.8223). Average transfer factor of elemental concentrations showed that heavy metals were not easily translocated in the soil-plant system (0.0514±0.0032). In addition, hemp plants that are considered as "hyper-accumulators" showed very acceptable results for industrial and other uses.