HEAVY METALS IN SOIL AND VEGETABLES AND THEIR EFFECT ON HEALTH

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess heavy metals Cadmium (Cd), Lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), Chromium (Cr) and Nickel (Ni) levels in vegetables like Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), Cabbage (Brassica oleracea), Carrot (Daucus carota), Brinjal (Solanum melongena), Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) and Radish (Raphanus sativus) irrigated with domestic wastewater. The vegetable samples were randomly collected from the farmlands irrigated with domestic wastewater around the Hisar district. Spinach, cabbage, brinjal and carrot accumulated higher Cd (1.30±0.31 mg kg-1), Pb (4.23±0.32 mg kg-1), Cu (1.42±0.25 mg kg-1), Zn (3.4±0.28 mg kg-1), Cr (1.16±0.11 mg kg-1) and Ni (2.45±0.86 mg kg-1) respectively. Transfer Factor (TF) of Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni are more in spinach (0.0306), cabbage (0.4448), spinach (0.2642), cauliflower (0.2494), carrot (0.0764) and spinach (0.7469) respectively. The health risk assessment has been calculated followed by Estimated Daily Intake Metal (EDIM) and Estimated Health Risk Index (EHRI). The present study highlights that both adults and children consuming vegetables grown in wastewater irrigated soils accumulate significant amount of these metals. However, the values of these metals were lesser than recommended maximum tolerable levelsproposed by the FAO/WHO (1999).