Increased health risk assessment in different vegetables grown under untreated sewerage irrigation regime due to higher heavy metals accumulation

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Jul 4. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-28413-z. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTHeavy metals are environmental pollutants and carcinogenic for human health if ingested. In developing countries, including Pakistan, untreated sewerage water is one of the major sources of irrigation for vegetable production in the vicinities of urban areas which might be toxic to human health due to heavy metals contamination. The present study was conducted to investigate the uptake of heavy metals by sewage water application and its impact on human health. The experiment consisted of five vegetable crops (Raphanus sativus L, Daucus carota, Brassica rapa, Spinacia oleracea, and Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) and two irrigation sources (clean water irrigation and sewage water irrigation). Each treatment was three time replicated for all five vegetables, and standard agronomic practices were applied. The results demonstrated that shoot and root growth in radish, carrot, turnip, spinach, and fenugreek was enhanced significantly with sewerage water, probably due to enhanced organic matter. However, pithiness was observed in the root of radish under sewerage water treatment. Very high concentrations of Cd, up to 7.08 ppm in turnip roots while up to 5.10 ppm in fenugreek shoot, were observed, and other vegetables also contained higher concentrations of Cd. Zn concentrations in the edible parts of carrot (control (C) = 129.17 ppm, sewerage (S) = 164.10 ppm), radish (C = 173.73 pp...
Source: Environmental Science and Pollution Research International - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research