Translocation and bioaccumulation of trace metals from industrial effluent to locally grown vegetables and assessment of human health risk in Bangladesh

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the level of trace metals in the soil of heavily loaded tannery and battery industry area on the bank of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, Bangladesh in order to investigate their translocation to the locally grown vegetables and potential health risk of the local consumers. Concentrations of various metals in agricultural soil and in a number of vegetables such as; Red amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus), Spinach (Spanacia oleracea), Jute leaf (Corchorus capsularies), Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), Mustard green (Brassica juncea) and Water spinach (Impomoea aquatica) were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The content of chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in the soil was around 500, 50, 50, 40, 0.8 and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Cr and Pb were found in the locally grown vegetables around 20 and 0.5 mg/kg respectively, which are higher than the permissible limit of them (2 mg/kg for Cr and 0.3 mg/kg for Pb) in vegetables as recommended by FAO/WHO and the data confirm the translocation of the metals from the soil to the vegetables. Hazard index value of all the vegetables considered was above 1, which indicates that the people could experience severe health risk due to consumption of any of those vegetables. Total cancer risk (TCR) value was obtained for Cr, Ni and Pb content in the local vegetables and it was observed that the value was around 1 × 10 −3 for all of the sample vegetables. The high TCR values (higher than the USEPA threshold level of 1 × 10 −6 ) indicate that there is a potential cancer risk due to intake of vegetables grown in that area.

Urban river pollution in Bangladesh during last 40 years: potential public health and ecological risk, present policy, and future prospects toward smart water management

“…Several researchers analyzed soil from area adjacent to river and compared with uncontaminated soil and found that these soils contain higher concentrations of heavy metals [ 12 , 182 ]. Crop grown in contaminated soil having irrigated with contaminated water accumulate higher concentrations of metals compared to uncontaminated soil and water [ 203 , 204 , 205 ]. Most of the researchers collected soil, water and crops from the agricultural land close to contaminated river and showed the toxicity level of contamination.…”

“…Metals enter into food chain through the accumulation into foodstuffs and finally come to human. Continuous consumption of the contaminated foods will build up higher concentrations gradient of the toxic metals into human body which will causes non carcinogenic and carcinogenic health hazards [ 205 ].…”

“…Based on calculated HQ and HI values for Fe and Mn in ground water collected from Dhaka city, the south-western (Turag-Buriganga-Dhaleshwari) part is vulnerable to public health issue [ 7 ]. Total cancer risk (TCR) value for Pb, Ni and Cr in vegetables grown on the Buriganga River bank area were higher than US EPA threshold value (1 × 10 −6 ), which indicated that the people eating those vegetables may be exposed to cancer problem [ 205 ]. Fish samples were collected from Dhaleshwari River and analysed 10 different heavy metals by Hasan et al., 2020.…”

Heavy metal health risk assessment of cow’s milk from an industrialized area of Dhaka, Bangladesh

“…This is due to the presence of high number of leather industries in the vicinity. These industries use chrome salts for leather processing and dump their waste mostly without any treatment in the nearby Buriganga River (Md Didarul Islam et al, 2020). Thus, it is not recommended that to drink much milk from those locations where samples were collected (nearby) in terms of highly chromium contamination and government should set up a strict guideline for tannery waste disposal system and it should be regularly monitored.…”

A Study of the Environmental Characteristics of the Alhagi plant and its Ability to Withdraw Cadmium from the Soil of Baquba District - Diyala Governorate

“…In a study performed by Islam et al (2020) near Buriganga River in Bangladesh, a variety of vegetables are collected, namely red amaranth, spinach, jet, squash, green mustard and water spinach from six different locations. They have foundthat the bioaccumulation factorhas recorded values greater than one and for all heavy elements, namely chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead in all plants.…”