Abstract
Industrial wastes have been increasingly discharged into water and soil, and causing environmental pollution in Ethiopia. This study examined the occurrence of heavy metal in water, soil, and plants in fields irrigated with industrial wastewater in Sabata town, Ethiopia. The composite samples of soil, water, and vegetables were collected accordingly to determine the concentration of heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, and Ni) in each system during dry and wet seasons. The concentration of heavy metal was assayed using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The heavy metal concentration was decreased in the order of Pb > Mn > Ni > Cu > Zn, Mn > Ni > Pb > Cu > Zn, and Ni > Pb > Mn > Cu > Zn in the water, soil, and vegetables in the area respectively. The variation of levels of heavy metal in the water, soil, and vegetable might be because of the effect of heavy metal speciation and valence, industry types, vegetable types and tissues, and soil. The bioconcentration factor of heavy metals was higher than that one for copper, signifying the increased probability of health risk for those who are consuming vegetables grown in the area. Thus, the government should take this into account and devise mitigation strategies through the implementation of heavy metal removal systems from contaminated water and soil, waste management strategies of recycling, centralized or decentralized treatment plant, changing of industrial residual into biogas production, and awareness creation for the society.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adamu CI, Nganje TN (2010) Heavy metal contamination of surface soil in relationship to land use patterns: a case study of Benue State, Nigeria. Mater Sci Appl 01(03):127–134. https://doi.org/10.4236/msa.2010.13021
Addis Ababa Rivers and Riversides Development Plan Project (AARDP) (2017) Addis Ababa city rivers pollution and sanitation study, Addis Ababa University printing press, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abdu N, Agbenin JO, Buerkert A (2011) Phyto-availability, human risk assessment and transfer characteristics of cadmium and zinc contamination from urban gardens in Kano, Nigeria. J Sci Food Agric 91:2722–2730
Agic R, Skopje F, Milenkovic L, Ilic ZS (2015) Transfer factor as indicator. Fresenius Environ Bull 24:4212–4219
Ahmed M, Matsumoto M, Ozaki A, Van Thinh N, Kurosawa K (2019a) Heavy metal contamination of irrigation water, soil, and vegetables and the difference between dry and wet seasons near a multi-industry zone in Bangladesh. Water (Switzerland) 11(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11030583
Ahmed MS, Biswas MMH, Mottalib MA, Alam MN, Khan M (2019b) Translocation of heavy metals from industry into vegetables and crops through water and soil of Mokesh Beel in Bangladesh and their impact on human body. IOSR J Environ Sci Toxicol Food Technol 13:59–71
Akoto O, Bruce TN, Darko G (2008) Heavy metals pollution profiles in streams serving the Owabi reservoir. Afr J Environ Sci Technol 2(11):354–359
Alkherraz A, Mohamed HO, Elsherif KM (2019) Heavy metals concentrations in some commercially available coffee, tea, and cocoa samples in Misurata city, Libya. Prog Chem Biochem Res 2(3):99–107
Alvarez A, & Alejandra M (2014) Bioremediation in Latin America
APHA (1999) American Public Health Association; American Water Works Association; Water Environment Federation. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater
Ara MH, Mondal UK, Dhar PK, Uddin M (2018) Presence of heavy metals in vegetables collected from Jashore, Bangladesh: human health risk assessment. J Chem Health Risks 8(4):277–287. https://doi.org/10.22034/jchr.2018.544710
Arora M, Kiran B, Rani S, Rani A, Kaur B, Mittal N (2008) Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables irrigated with water from different sources. Food Chem 111(4):811–815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.04.049
Aschale M, Sileshi Y, Quinn MK, Hailu D (2015) Assessment of potentially toxic elements in vegetables grown along Akaki River in Addis Ababa and potential health implications. 40:42–53
Barakat MA (2011) New trends in removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater. Arab J Chem 4(4):361–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2010.07.019
Begum A, Harikrishna S (2010) Pathogens and heavy metals concentration in green leafy vegetables. E-J Chem 7(SUPPL. 1):552–559. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/741815
Bempah CK & Ewusi A (2016) Heavy metals contamination and human health risk assessment around Obuasi gold mine in Ghana. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Environ Monit Assess, 188: 26
Bhatti SS, Kumar V, Singh N, Sambyal V, Singh J, Katnoria JK, Nagpal AK (2016) Physico-chemical properties and heavy metal contents of soils and kharif crops of Punjab, India. Procedia Environ Sci 35:801–808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2016.07.096
Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia and World Food Program(WFP) (2019) Ethiopia office comprehensive food security and vulnerability analysis (CFSVA). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Chen C, Qian Y, Chen Q, Li C (2011) Assessment of daily intake of toxic elements due to consumption of vegetables, fruits, meat, and sea food by inhabitants of Xiamen, China. J.FoodSci. 76:T181–T188
Donkor A, Fordjour LA, Tawiah R, Asomaning W, Dubey B, Osei-Fosu P, Ziwu C, Mohammed M (2017) Evaluation of trace metals in vegetables sampled from farm and market sites of Accra Metropolis, Ghana. Int J Environ Stud 74(2):315–324. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2016.1261599
EPA (2004) The 3rd national report on the implementation of the UNCCD/NAP in Ethiopia
EPA (2005) Environmental impact Assessment Guideline for Tanneries. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
European Union (2002) Heavy metals in wastes. European Commission on Environment. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/pdf/heavymetalsreport.pdf. Accessed 16 Sep 2019
Ewers U (1991) Standards, guidelines, and legislative regulations concerning metals and their compounds. In: Merian E (ed) Metals and their compounds in environment: occurrence, analysis, and biological relevance. VCH, Weinheim, pp 458–468
Ezemonye LI, Adebayo PO, Enuneku AA, Tongo I, Ogbomida E (2019) Potential health risk consequences of heavy metal concentrations in surface water, shrimp (Macrobrachium macrobrachion) and fish (Brycinus longipinnis) from Benin River, Nigeria. Toxicol.Reports 6:1–9
Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) (2016) Ethiopia steps report on risk factors for non-communicable disease and prevalence of selected NCDs, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
FAO/WHO (1994) Codex Alimentations Commission, food additive and contaminants, Joint FAO/ WHO Food Standards Programme, ALINORM
FAO/WHO (2001) Codex Alimentarius Commission, food additive and contaminants. Joint FAO/ WHOFood Standards Programme, ALINORM
FAO/WHO (2004) Codex Alimentarius Commission, food additive and contaminants, Joint FAO/ WHO Food Standards Programme, ALINORM
FAO/WHO (2007) Expert Committee on food additives. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 329–336
FAO/WHO (2011) Joint Report, Food Standard Programs Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods. (CF/5 INF/1), Rome
FAO and ITPS Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR) – Technical Summary (2015) Food and agriculture organization of the united nations and intergovernmental technical panel on soils, Rome, Italy
Farahat EA, Galal TM, Elawa OE & Hassan LM (2017) Health risk assessment and growth characteristics of wheat and maize crops irrigated with contaminated wastewater. Springer International Publishing AG, Environ Monit Assess, 189: 53
FDRE EPA (2002) Proclamation No.295/2002: a proclamation provide for the establishment of environmental protection organs, Federal Negarit Gazeta, 1939–1940. 295/200
Fisseha Itanna (1998) Metal concentrations of some vegetables irrigated with industrial liquid waste at Akaki, Ethiopia. Ethiop J Sci 21(1)
Fisseha Itanna (2002) Metals in leafy vegetables grown in Addis Ababa and toxicological implications. Ethiop J Health Dev 16(3). https://doi.org/10.4314/ejhd.v16i3.9797
Gebeyehu HR, Bayissa LD (2020) Levels of heavy metals in soil and vegetables and associated health risks in Mojo area, Ethiopia. PLoSONE 15(1):e0227883. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227883
Gebeyehu HR, Bayssia LD (2020) Levels of heavy metals in soil and vegetables and associated health risks in Mojo area, Ethiopia. PLoS One 15(1):1–22. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227883
Gebre G & Van Rooijen D (2009) Institutional Repository Urban water pollution and irrigated vegetable farming in Addis Ababa, 166
Ghosh AK, Bhatt MA (2012) Agrawal HP effect of long-term application of treated sewage water on heavy metal accumulation in vegetables grown in northern India. Environ Monit Assess 184:1025–1036
Harmanescu M, Alda L, Bordean D, Gogoasa I, Gergen I (2011) Heavy metals health risk assessment for population via consumption of vegetables grown in old mining area; a case study: Banat County, Romania. Chem Cent J 5:64
Herschy RW (2012) Water quality for drinking: WHO guidelines. In Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, (pp. 876–883). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4410-6_184
Ihedioha JN, Ogili EO, Ekere NR, and Ezeofor CC (2019) Risk assessment of heavy metal contamination of paddy soil and rice (Oryza sativa) from Abakaliki, Nigeria. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Environ Monit Assess 191:350
Ishak AR, Mohamad S, Soo TK, Hamid FS (2016) Leachate and surface water characterization and heavy metal health risk on cockles in Kuala Selangor. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 222:263–271. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.05.156
Jacob JO, Kakulu ES (2012) Assessment of heavy metal bioaccumulation in spinach, jute mallow and tomato in farms within Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria. Am J Chem 2(1):13–16. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.chemistry.20120201.04
Jolly YN, Akter S, Kabir J, Islam A, Akbar S (2013) Trace elements contamination in the river Padma. Bangladesh J Phys 13:95–102
Kachenko AG, Singh B (2004) Heavy metals contamination of home grown vegetables near metal smelters in NSW, SuperSoil 3rdAust.NewZeal.Soils Conf. 1–8
Khan S, Cao Q, Zheng YM, Huang YZ, Zhu YG (2008) Health risks of heavy metals in contaminated soils and food crops irrigated with waste water in Beijing, China. Environ Pollut 152:686–692
Khan S, Farooq R, Shahbaz S, Khan MA, Sadique M (2009) Health risk assessment of heavy metals for population via consumption of vegetables. World Appl Sci J 6:1602–1606
Landrigan PJ, Fuller R, Acosta NJR, Adeyi O, Arnold R, Basu NN, Baldé AB, Bertollini R, Bose-O’Reilly S, Boufford JI, Breysse PN, Chiles T, Mahidol C, Coll-Seck AM, Cropper ML, Fobil J, Fuster V, Greenstone M, Haines A et al (2018) The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. Lancet 91(10119):462–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0
Latif A, Bilal M, Asghar W, Azeem M, Ahmad MI et al (2018) Heavy metal accumulation in vegetables and assessment of their potential health risk. J Environ Anal Chem 5:234. https://doi.org/10.4172/2380-2391.1000234
Lente I, Ofosu-Anim J, Brimah AK, Atiemo S (2014) Heavy metal pollution of vegetable crops irrigated with wastewater in Accra, Ghana. West Afr J App Ecol 22(1):41–58
Li J, Miao X, Hao Y, Xie Z, Zou S, Zhou C (2020) Health risk assessment of metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Cd, As, Hg, Se) in angling fish with different lengths collected from Liuzhou, China. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17:219
Mahmood A, Malik RN (2013) Human health risk assessment of heavy metals via consumption of contaminated vegetables collected from different irrigation sources in Lahore, Pakistan, Arab. J Chemother 7:91–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ARABJC.2013.07.002
Naser HM, Sultana S, Gomes R, Noor S (2012) Heavy metal pollution of soil and vegetable grown near roadside at Gazipur, Bangladesh. J Agric Res 37:9–17. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v37i1.11170
Olowoyo JO, van Heerden E, Fischer JL, Baker C (2010) Trace metals in soil and leaves of Jacaranda mimosifolia in Tshwane area, South Africa. Atmos Environ 44(14):1826–1830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.01.048
Oromia Audit General (2018) Report on environment audit of some selected operational manufacturing industries in Sabata town
OUPI Master Plan Study of Sabata town (2019) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Unpublished document
Pendias AK, Pendias H (1992) Elements of group VIII in trace elements in soils and plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 271–276
Plant JA, Baldocck JW, Smith (1996) The role of geochemistry in Environmental and epidemiological studies in developing countries: A review
Prabu PC, Wondimu L, Tesso M (2011) Assessment of water quality of Huluka and Alaltu Rivers of Ambo, Ethiopia. J Agric Sci Technol 13(1):131–138
Reda AH (2015) Study on the pollution levels of trace metals from modjo tannery effluent in the surrounding river water and soil. Science J Anal Chem 3(5):56–60. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjac.20150305.13
Rattan RK, Datta SP, Chhonkar PK, Suribabu K, Singh AK (2005) Long-term impact of irrigation with sewage effluents on heavy metal content in soils, crops and ground water-a case study. Agric Ecosyst Environ 109:310–322
Rayment GE, Jeffery AJ, Barry GA (2002) Heavy metals in Australian sugarcane, communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 33, 15-18
Rodríguez, IA., González JFC, Juárez VMM, Pérez AR, Zarate Md GM, Castillo NCP, Biosorption of heavy metals by candida albicans, (2018) Additional information is available at https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.72454
Sharma S, Nagpal AK, Kaur I (2018) Heavy metal contamination in soil, food crops and associated health risks for residents of Ropar wetland, Punjab, India and its environs. FoodChem 255:15–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.02.037
Tasrina RC, Rowshon A (2015) Heavy metals contamination in vegetables and its growing soil. J Environ Anal Chem 02(03). https://doi.org/10.4172/2380-2391.1000142
Türkdoǧan MK, Kilicel F, Kara K, Tuncer I, Uygan I (2003) Heavy metals in soil, vegetables and fruits in the endemic upper gastrointestinal cancer region of Turkey. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 13(3):175–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1382-6689(02)00156-4
Uddin MN, Hasan MK, Dhar PK (2019) Contamination status of heavy metals in vegetables and soil in Satkhira, Bangladesh. J Ecol Indic 10(6):543–552
USEPA (1989) Risk assessment guidance for superfund. Volume I. Human Health Evaluation Manual (Part A). EPA/540/1–89/002. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ragsa/pdf/rags-vol1-pta_complete.pdf
USEPA (1996) Review of national air quality standards for ozone assessment of scientific technical information, OAQPS Staff Paper, EPA 452/R-96- 007
USEPA (1997) Exposure factors handbook U.S. environmental protection agency, Washington, DC. EPA/600/P-95/002F a-c
USEPA (2001) Phyto-remediation of contaminated soil and ground water at hazardous waste sites, ManTech Environmental Research Services Corporation, Ada, OK 74820
USEPA (2003) Strategy to prevent food borne disease, Available online at: http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/tfsy.html
USEPA (2004) Risk assessment guidance for superfund volume I: human health evaluation manual (part E, supplemental guidance for dermal risk assessment), Washington, DC, USA: EPA/540/R/99/005
USEPA (2006) Integrated risk information system. http://www.epa.gov/iris/substS
USEPA (2007) Dermal exposure assessment: a summary of EPA approaches
USEPA Regional screening level (RSL) summary table (November 2010) http://www.epa.gov/region9/superfund/prg/
USEPA (2011) Regional screening level summary. Environmental Protection Agency
Waseem A, Arshad J, Iqbal F, Sajjad A, Mehmood Z, and Murtaza G (2014) Pollution status of Pakistan: a retrospective review on heavy metal contamination of water, soil, and vegetables, Hindawi Publishing Corporation BioMed Research International Volume 2014, Article ID 813206,29 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/813206
WHO (1996) Background document for development of WHO guidelines for drinking-water quality
WHO (1998) The World Health Report Life in the 21st century. A vision for all Report of the Director-General World Health Organization, Geneva
WHO (2002) Standards for effluent discharge regulations, General notice No 44, Geneva, Switzerland
WHO (2003) GEMS/Food regional diets: regional per capita consumption of raw and semi-processed agricultural commodities, Food Safety Department/World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
WHO/FAO (2007) Joint FAO/WHO Food Standard Programme Codex Alimentarious Commission 13th Session, Report of the thirty-eight session of the Codex Committee on food hygiene, Houston, United States of America
Yang J, Lv F, Zhou J, Song Y, Li F (2017) Health risk assessment of vegetables grown on the contaminated soils in Daye city of Hubei province, China. Sustainability (Switzerland) 9(11):1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112141
Zheng N, Wang Q, Zhang X, Zheng D, Zhang Z, Zhang S (2007) Population health risk due to dietary intake of heavy metals in the industrial area of Huludao city, China. Sci Total Environ 387:96–104
Zhu F, Qu L, Fan W, Wang A, Hao H, Li X & Yao S (2015) Study on heavy metal levels and its health risk assessment in some edible fishes from Nansi Lake, China, Springer International Publishing Switzerland, Environ Monit Assess, 187: 161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4355
Zinabu E, Kelderman P, van der Kwast J, Irvine K (2018) Impacts and policy implications of metals effluent discharge into rivers within industrial zones: a Sub-Saharan perspective from Ethiopia. Environ Manag 61(4):700–715. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0970-9
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU) of Sweden for their cooperation in providing working places with all facilities during the stay in SLU, Uppsala, Sweden.
Funding
The authors would like to thank the Addis Ababa University (College of Development Studies, Center of Environment and Development) and Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for funding this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Philippe Garrigues
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gemeda, F.T., Guta, D.D., Wakjira, F.S. et al. Occurrence of heavy metal in water, soil, and plants in fields irrigated with industrial wastewater in Sabata town, Ethiopia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 12382–12396 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10621-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10621-6