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Risk assessment of trace element accumulation in soil and Brassica oleracea after wastewater irrigation

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Abstract

The risk assessment of trace elements has received substantial attention for the achievement of UN Sustainable Developmental Goals (UN-SDGs). The present study aimed to evaluate health and ecological risks associated with trace element accumulation in Brassica oleracea under wastewater irrigations from three different areas. This study, for the first time, compared the pros and cons of mixed water crop irrigation (wastewater with fresh/groundwater). A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the buildup of eight trace elements (As, Cu, Cd, Mn, Fe, Pb, Ni and Zn) in soil and B. oleracea plants irrigated with wastewater alone and mixed with fresh/groundwater. Specific ecological [degree of contamination (Cd), potential ecological risk index (PERI), pollution load index (PLI), geo-accumulation index (Igeo)], phytoaccumulation [bioconcentration factor (BCF) and transfer factor (TF)] and health risk models [chronic daily intake (CDI), hazard quotient (HQ), cancer risk (CR)] were applied to assess the overall contamination of trace elements in the soil–plant–human system. Moreover, these indices were compared with the literature data. The concentration of Cd, Fe and Mn exceeded the threshold limits of 10, 500 and 200 mg kg−1, respectively, for agricultural soil. Overall, all the irrigation waters caused significant pollution load in soil indicating high ecological risk (Cd > 24, PERI > 380, Igeo > 5, PLI > 2). Not all the mixing treatments caused a reduction in trace element buildup in soil. The mixing of wastewater-1 with either groundwater or freshwater increased trace element levels in the soil as well as risk indices compared to wastewater alone. The BCF and TF values were > 1, respectively, for 66% and 7% treatments. Trace element concentration in plants and associated health risk were minimized in mixed wastewater treatments. There were 22% and 32% reduction in HQ and CR when wastewater was mixed with freshwater and 29% and 8% when mixed with groundwater. Despite total reduction, a great variation in % change in risk indices was observed with respect to the area of wastewater collection. Therefore, mixed water irrigation may be a good management strategy, but its recommendation depends on soil properties and composition of waters used for mixing. Moreover, it is recommended that the freshwater and wastewater of the particular area may be continuously monitored to avoid potential associated health hazards.

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Acknowledgements

Dr. M Shahid thanks HEC-Pakistan for financing a project (20-4423/R&D/HEC/14/980). Authors thank the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2021/169), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for the financial support.

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All data produced and analyzed during this study are incorporated in this article and supplementary material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari, 61100, Pakistan

    Ali Haider Shah, Muhammad Shahid, Natasha Natasha, Sana Khalid, Muhammad Nadeem, Ghulam Abbas & Muhammad Farhan Saeed

  2. Sahiwal Medical College, Sahiwal, Punjab, Pakistan

    Maria Tahir

  3. Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Irshad Bibi

  4. Department of Botany, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Sub-Campus, Vehari, Pakistan

    Tasveer Zahra Tariq

  5. Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh, 11433, Saudi Arabia

    Sabah Ansar

  6. Centre d’Etude Et de Recherche Travail Organisation Pouvoir (CERTOP), UMR5044, Universite´ Toulouse-Jean Jaure`S, 5 alle´e Antonio Machado, 31058, Toulouse, France

    Camille Dumat

  7. INP-ENSAT, Universite´ de Toulouse, Avenue de l’Agrobiopole, 31326, Auzeville-Tolosane, France

    Camille Dumat

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  1. Ali Haider Shah
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  4. Natasha Natasha
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  7. Sana Khalid
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  11. Sabah Ansar
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  12. Camille Dumat
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Contributions

AHS performed the research work and write-up of first draft; MS performed conceptualization, analysis, writing/improving first draft and supervision; MT, IB, TZT and SK reviewed and edited manuscript; NN helped in research work and improved the first draft; MN, GA and MFS co-supervised research work; and SA and CD made final revision, editing and improvement.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Shahid.

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Shah, A.H., Shahid, M., Tahir, M. et al. Risk assessment of trace element accumulation in soil and Brassica oleracea after wastewater irrigation. Environ Geochem Health 45, 8929–8942 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01351-4

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