Water has become a major threat in today’s world. Collection of heavy metals, a few of them, is potentially toxic and these get distributed to different areas through different pathways. With an increase in the earth’s population, development and industrialization are taking place rapidly and these get the major source of water contamination. With heavy metals in lakes, rivers, groundwater, and various water sources, water gets polluted by the increased concentration of heavy metals and metalloids through release from the suddenly mine tailings, disposal of high metal wastes, growing industrial areas, leaded gasoline and paints, usage of fertilizers inland, animal manures, E-waste, sewage sludge, pesticides, wastewater irrigation, coal, etc. Exposure to heavy metals has been linked to chronic and acute toxicity, which develops retardation; neurotoxicity can damage the kidneys, lead to the development of different cancers, damage the liver and lungs; bones can become fragile; and there are even chances of death in case of huge amount of exposure. This chapter mainly focuses on heavy metal pollution in water and its toxic effect on living organisms.

With the progression of nanotechnology, the use of nanoparticles in consumer products has increased dramatically. Because of their broad scale use, these nanomaterials can be expected to be present in the environment, raising concerns about their effects on the lives of plants and animals. Zinc oxide (ZnO), a nanomaterial, has specific surface area, high pore volume, low toxicity and long life‐span and thus is being used as promising material for cosmetics, antibacterial, chemical absorbents, polymer additives and catalysts. In this study ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized using various techniques like X‐ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron microscopy (TEM) and Ultra violet (UV) visible spectroscopy. Further, the effect of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) was tested on wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown in hydroponics media. It was observed that ZnO NPs, at 50 mg/L have positive effect on seed germination, number of roots, plant biomass and overall growth of roots, shoots and leaves. These findings could be further applied to the agricultural fields to enhance the crop production.

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The consequences of heavy metal contamination are progressively degrading soil quality in this modern period of industry. Due to this reason, improvement of the soil quality is necessary. Remediation is a method of removing pollutants from the root zone of plants in order to minimize stress and increase yield of plants grown in it. The use of plants to remove toxins from the soil, such as heavy metals, trace elements, organic chemicals, and radioactive substances, is referred to as bioremediation. Biochar and fly ash techniques are also studied for effectiveness in improving the quality of contaminated soil. This review compiles amelioration technologies and how they are used in the field. It also explains how nanoparticles are becoming a popular method of desalination, as well as how they can be employed in heavy metal phytoremediation.

Vegetables are a prevalent nutrition for people all over the world because they are high in important nutrients, antioxidants, and metabolites that function as buffers for acidic compounds created during digestion. Vegetables, on the other hand, absorbed both vital and poisonous substances through the soil. Possible human health concerns, including as cancer and renal damage, have been linked to the consumption of heavy metal-contaminated vegetables (HMs). Heavy metals like Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Hg were found in high concentrations in popular vegetables such as Amaranthus tricolour L., Chenopodium album L., Spinacia oleracea, Coriandrum sativum, Solanum lycopersicum, and Solanum melongena. The toxicity, fortification, health hazard, and heavy metals sources grown in soil are detailed in this review study.