No abstract

Uranium contamination is reported in the groundwater of Haryana but the data of its occurrence is utterly scattered. In the present study, the data related to the distribution of uranium in Haryana was compiled and a contour map was generated. The map showed average uranium concentration in groundwater of Fatehabad (22.3 ppb), Jind (16.76 ppb), Rohtak (15.49 ppb), Mahendargarh (18.87 ppb), Gurgaon & Sohna (22.09 ppb), Rewari (14.4 ppb) below the prescribed limit of WHO while in Hisar (33.9 ppb), Sonipat (57.43 ppb), Panipat (49.42 ppb), Sirsa (49 ppb), Jhajjar (53.01 ppb) and Bhiwani (30.15 ppb) districts higher than the standard limit of 30 ppb of WHO, but below the standard limit of 60 ppb issued by AERB. The AED (Annual Effective Dose) in all districts was found to be less than 100 µSv/y; ECR (Excess Cancer Risk) was found to be less in all districts except Hisar, Panipat, Sonipat, Sirsa, Fatehabad, Sohna, Gurugram, Rewari, Jhajjar and Bhiwani districts, where ECR was higher than the prescribed limit of 1.67 × 10-4 as per AERB.

Uranium(U) is one of the highly toxic heavy metals and radionuclides that has become a major threat to soil health. There are two types of sources of Uranium in the soil system, natural and anthropogenic. Natural sources of uranium include rock systems and volcanic eruptions while anthropogenic sources include mining activities, disposal of radioactive waste, application of phosphate fertilizers, etc. Uranium accumulation impacts germination, early seedling growth, photosynthesis, metabolic and physiological processes of the plants. Through its accumulation in the aerial parts of the plants, Uranium finds its way to the human body, where it has deleterious health impacts. Different studies have identified the various sources of Uranium, explored, and explained the geochemistry of Uranium in soil, assessed the Uranium uptake and toxicity to the plants, and further studied the impact on human health. Most studies focused on two stages, either soil-plant or plant-human system. However, few studies have critically reviewed and summarized the U in the soil-plant-human system. Thus, the review has been designed to focus on the sources, geochemical behaviour, uptake, and translocation, plant toxicity, food chain entry, and finally, impact on human health. The relationship between the bioavailability of Uranium in the soil-plant system with soil properties like pH, Organic matter, and microorganisms have also been included. The study is further intensified by analyzing the accumulation of Uranium in various parts of the plants.

Groundwater contamination is a major concern in front of the scienti c community because it is directly related to human health, especially in arid and semiarid regions. Therefore, a comprehensive study was engaged to evaluate the water quality, potability, and human health risk assessment due to the consumption of uoride and nitrate-contaminated water in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan. In water quality, 16 parameters were analyzed as per the standard method of APHA(American Public health Association ), 2017, collected from 87 locations in the study region, and results found that the value of the number of quality parameters consisting of pH, EC, TDS, uoride, chloride, nitrate, sulphate, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, and total alkalinity was observed higher than the recommended limit of BIS (Bureau of Indian standard), 2012 and WHO (World Health Organization), 2017. The uoride in 11% and nitrate in 6% samples were observed to exceed the permissible limit of WHO. The results of risk assessment due to uoride and nitrate revealed that Hazard Index values of 71% groundwater samples for males, 78% groundwater samples for females, and 75% groundwater samples for children were greater than 1, indicating the signi cant health hazard due to consumption of groundwater. The water quality index (WQI) found that 37% of groundwater samples belong to categories that cannot be used for drinking purposes. Principal component analysis (PCA) reduced the large number of variables affecting the overall quality and chemistry of groundwater and determined four major components which account for 69.50% variance in the data.

Lead (Pb) toxicity is a major problem in agricultural soil that negatively affects plant growth and development. Glycine betaine (GB) is an effective compatible solute that resists abiotic stress and plays an important role to mitigate various stresses. The present study is the first of its kind on the application of GB to mitigate Pb toxicity on barley cultivars. To elucidate the role of GB in mitigating Pb toxicity of three concentrations (15 mM, 25 mM, and 35 mM) in two barley varieties (BH-959 and BH-946) with and without foliar application of GB (2 mM) was examined. The study found that increasing Pb concentration significantly (p<0.05) reduced the level of primary metabolites viz. photosynthetic pigments, protein, and carbohydrates in both cultivars upto 42.4%, 38.4% and 39% respectively. However malondialdehyde content, proline content, and antioxidant enzyme activity (SOD, CAT, and POX) were found to increased significantly (p<0.05) as compared to control treatment upto 83.4%, 83.2% and 51% respectively. In contrast, the application of GB led to significantly (p<0.05) improved physio-biochemical parameters as well as antioxidant enzyme activity (53%) and reduced oxidative stress along with malondialdehyde content (14.42%) in both varieties. An increment in these parameters revealed that exogenous application of GB (2 mM) significantly improves Pb (up to 35 mM) toxicity in barley plants and its use may be beneficial for crops susceptible to Pb toxicity to improve growth and yield.