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Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk Associated with Cultivated Vegetables along Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, Bangladesh

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Abstract

The purpose of this research work is to evaluate the degree of eight heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ni) contamination and health risks of three regularly consumed vegetables (papaya, bottle gourd, and esculent) near one of Bangladesh’s busiest roadways, the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. The heavy metal concentrations in 45 vegetable samples were analyzed using an atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS). These samples were collected from five different sampling sites based on various land use patterns adjacent to the highway. The average concentrations (mg/kg) of Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, and Ni were found to be 9.86, 246.8, 16.9, 28.0, 9.02, and 2.02, respectively, for papaya; 14.9, 281.2, 387.6, 49.0, 10.1, and 2.92, respectively, for bottle gourd; and 17.6, 183.4, 107.2, 80.7, 7.98, and 2.34, respectively, for esculent. The mean concentrations of Cr, Zn, and Mn in papaya, bottle gourd, and esculent were higher than the acceptable limit. Correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between Fe-Cu, Zn-Fe, Cu-Fe, and Fe-Zn in papaya; Cu-Zn, Fe-Cr, Zn-Ni, and Cr-Fe in bottle gourd; and Mn-Cr, Mn-Ni, Mn-Fe, and Cr-Ni in esculent, thereby indicating their common anthropogenic sources like agricultural activities, waste from the commercial area, filling station, and vehicular emissions. Health risk assessment through target hazard quotient (THQ) revealed the highest THQ of 9.52 for Cr in bottle gourd, which poses a high non-carcinogenic health risk to the localities upon the intake of these contaminated vegetables. Target cancer risk (TCR) was found to be highest for Cr in papaya (0.013) and bottle gourd (0.014). TCR trends were found for Cr in the following order: bottle gourd > esculent > papaya. This study contributed the greatest concern for both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health impacts through ingesting contaminated vegetables.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to show their gratitude to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Gazipur, Bangladesh, for providing the laboratory facilities. The authors are also thankful to the Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Noakhali Science and Technology University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh

    Mohammed Abdus Salam, Salma Akhter, Md. Nur-E-Alam & Md. Saydul Islam

  2. Department of Applied Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhai, 3814, Bangladesh

    Sanchita Dewanjee

  3. Australian Institute for Innovative Materials, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2500, Australia

    Sanchita Dewanjee

  4. Institute of National Analytical Research and Service (INARS), Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR), Dhanmondi, Dhaka, 1205, Bangladesh

    Md. Abu Bakar Siddique

  5. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408, Bangladesh

    Tapos Kumar Chakraborty

  6. Department of Applied Sciences, Global Group of Institutes, Amritsar, 143501, Punjab, India

    Vinit Prakash

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  1. Mohammed Abdus Salam
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Contributions

Mohammed Abdus Salam: conceptualization, investigation, resources, supervision, project administration. Salma Akhter: writing—original draft preparation, formal analysis, methodology. Md. Nur-E-Alam: formal analysis, software, writing—original draft preparation, writing—review and editing, visualization. Md. Saydul Islam: software, writing—review and editing, formal analysis. Sanchita Dewanjee: formal analysis, writing—review and editing. Md. Abu Bakar Siddique: writing—reviewing and editing, validation. Tapos Kumar Chakraborty: writing—reviewing and editing, data curation. Vinit Prakash: writing—reviewing and editing, data curation, validation.

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Salam, M.A., Akhter, S., Nur-E-Alam, M. et al. Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination and Health Risk Associated with Cultivated Vegetables along Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, Bangladesh. Biol Trace Elem Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-024-04200-w

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