Estimation of Bioaccumulation, Translocation and Distribution Patterns of Cadmium and Lead in Commonly Consumed Green Leafy Vegetables in Colombo District, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Green Leafy Vegetables (GLV) are a key component of the Sri Lankan diet. However, GLV are identified as good heavy metal accumulators, which in turns causes potential health risks for consumers through food chain contaminations. The present study aimed to investigate the bioaccumulation, translocation and distribution patterns of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in five key Sri Lankan GLV ["Kankun" (Ipomoea aquatica), "Mukunuwenna (Alternanthera sessilis), "Thampala" (Amaranthus viridis), "Nivithi" (Basella alba) and "Kohila" (Lasia spinosa)] grown in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. The levels of Cd and Pb in different plant parts (roots, stems and leaves) and the soil underneath were determined using the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and the bioaccumulation and translocation factors of heavy metals from soil to different plants parts (roots, stems, leaves), were calculated to identify the hyper accumulative species.Irrespective of the species and the location, GLV showed the distribution pattern for Cd and Pb as: roots>stems>leaves. In all the analyzed GLV, roots have accumulated significantly higher concentrations (at P<0.05) of Cd and Pb compared with stems and leaves. Among the two heavy metals, Cd bioavailability was higher compared with Pb. Amaranthus viridis had the lowest capacity for metal enrichment. In contrast, Lasia spinosa showed the highest bioaccumulation factors for both elements and the accumulation factor obtained for Cd (1.04) was >1. Thus, Lasia spinosa has the potential to use in phytoextraction purposes in future, though it is not safe to consume as a day to day food item.

Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil of an Open Dump along Old Ikare Road Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

“…The high presence of Fe may be associated to the parent soil in the study location, these results agreed with the findings of Angulo [42]. In addition, the presence of Fe and Zn in the soil may be due to dumping of different waste which include agricultural waste, fertilizer, waste from passersby and passing cars because the study site is closer to a major market where only food items from the farm and other rural settlements are sold, this is also consistent with the studies of [44,45,46]. The presence of Pb and Cu may be due to the release of pollution of vehicle exhaust from nearby traffic, because Nigeria uses leaded petrol and diesel and the presence of waste released by the vegetable oil industry located close to this study site.…”

Toxicological Assessment of Crops Grown in Soils Amended with Municipal Solid Waste Ash

“…The overall sequence of metals translocation observed for all cultivated crops in both sites shows different translocation and responses to heavy metals stress as reported by [14,5]. Contrary to finding in [23] the values obtained for the edible parts of the cultivated crops were within the limit set for safe consumption. Nevertheless, there is need to constantly monitor heavy metals concentration in farm soil and the crops cultivated as the metals possess great health concerns (Table 1).…”

Effects of Fly Ash Amended Soil on Biochemical Attributes and Antioxidant Responses of Medicinally Potent Plant Calendula Officinalis

“…The maximum value for this factor indicates increase availability of a particular metal to the plants. Consequently, high BAF values represent the potential health risk to the plants (Kananke et al 2018). Sugar content-Reducing sugars in the fresh leaf samples from all the soil-FA treatments was estimated following the Dinitrosalicylic acid method (DNS) (Miller 1972).…”

“…The concentration of these metals was quanti ed by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer (ICPMS, Agilent 7900). The determination of metal transfer from soil to plant can be accessed by bioaccumulation factor (BAF) values and is de ned by the following equation (Kananke et al 2018).…”

“…The maximum value for this factor indicates increase availability of a particular metal to the plants. Consequently, high BAF values represent the potential health risk to the plants ( Kananke et al 2018).…”