Abstract: Twenty plots of typical urban roadside vegetable fields 1-10 m apart from the roads in Chongqing were randomly selected as the objects of study. A total of 102 soil samples and 132 vegetable samples were collected. Lead (Pb) contents in soil and vegetable samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The content Pb in soils ranged 13.30-152.80 mg·kg-1, with an average value of 33.85 mg·kg-1. Pb contents in all soil samples were lower than the secondary standard of Chinese Soil Environmental Quality Standard (GB 15618-1995). But the Pb contents of 86.29% of the samples were higher than that of the soil background value in Chongqing. The average pollution index of Pb in the roadside soils was 1.33, indicating that transportation caused some contamination to the roadside vegetable soils. The Pb contents of the edible parts of the vegetables were 0.059-2.363 mg·kg^-1, with an average value of 0.763 mg·kg^-1. Among them, the average Pb contents of the edible parts of beans, leafy vegetables and root vegetables were 1.037, 0.811 and 0.247 mg·kg^-1, respectively. Therefore, the Pb contents of the different kinds of vegetables generally showed a trend of leguminous vegetables > leaf vegetables > root vegetables. In addition, the longer the growth cycle of vegetables, the higher the Pb content of their edible parts. Compared with the Chinese Food Pollution Limits Standard (GB 2762-2012), the Pb contents of 96.2% of samples of the edible parts of vegetables planted on the roadside of Chongqing urban areas exceeded the national standard limit. The hazard quotients (HQs) of Pb in vegetables to children, adolescent and adults were 4.86, 6.29 and 4.83 respectively. It was concluded that the vegetables planted on the roadsides of Chongqing urban areas were seriously polluted and attention should be paid on their health risks.