Effect of arsenic-contaminated irrigation water on growth and elemental composition of tomato and cabbage cultivated in three different soils, and related health risk assessment

This study was carried out to determine the effect of arsenic on tomato and cabbage cultivated in sand, sandy silt, and silt soil, and irrigated with water containing arsenic at concentrations 0.05 and 0.2 mg/L. Increasing arsenic in irrigation water did not affect the photosynthetic machinery. The chlorophyll content index increased in case of all soils and was dependent on the soil nitrogen, phosphorous, and plant biomass. Arsenic concentrations of 0.05 and 0.2 mg/L did not display any phytotoxic symptoms other than reduction in biomass in some cases. In cabbage, arsenic treatment of 0.2 mg/L increased the overall plant biomass production, while in tomato there was a decrease in aerial part and fruit biomass. The biomass production of both plants treated with different concentrations of arsenic, in the three soils was in the following order: silt>sand>sandy silt. Increase of arsenic in the irrigation water resulted in increase in arsenic concentration in the root and aerial part of both plants, at the same cultivation parameters. But tomato fruits displayed a decrease in arsenic accumulation with higher arsenic treatment. In both plants, the arsenic concentration in the plant parts changed in the following order: root>aerial part>fruit. Cabbage accumulated approximately twenty-fold more arsenic in the edible part (0.10-0.25 mg/kg DW) as compared to tomato (0.006-0.011 mg/kg DW) and displayed a good correlation with soil extractable arsenic. When cabbage was cult...
Source: Environmental Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: research