Risk assessment of trace metals in Solanum lycopersicum L. (tomato) grown under wastewater irrigation conditions

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 14; pp. 42255 - 42266
• Main Authors: Ahmed, Dalia Abd El-Azeem, Slima, Dalia Fahmy, Al-Yasi, Hatim M., Hassan, Loutfy M., Galal, Tarek M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.03.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aquatic Pollution; Arsenic; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Cadmium; Child; Chromium; Cobalt; Copper; Crops; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Food contamination; Food plants; Health risks; Heavy metals; Humans; Industrial wastes; Industrial wastewater; Ingestion; Irrigation; Lead; Manganese; Mercury; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Nickel; Nutrients; Research Article; Risk Assessment; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Solanum lycopersicum; Tomatoes; Trace Elements; Trace metals; Translocation; Tributaries; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater; Wastewater irrigation; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Hazard quotient; Translocation and bioaccumulation factors; Heavy metals; Daily intake of metals
• ISSN: 1614-7499; 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-023-25157-8

Heavy metal contamination of food crop plants is viewed as a global issue. Heavy metals like cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), cobalt (Co), and mercury (Hg) are poisonous. Depending on their concentration and capacity for bioaccumulation, they can provide a range of health risks.This research sought to investigate the effects of toxic metals (TMs) on the growth characteristics of produced tomatoes grown under wastewater irrigation. Additionally, it looked into the potential repercussions of both domestic and foreign individuals consuming this plant. In south Cairo, Egypt, two study locations were looked into: a control site in Abu Ragwan, which received water from tributaries of the Nile River, and a contaminated site in El-Shobak El-Sharky, which had raw industrial wastewater. The nutrients of soil and tomato plants (N, P, and K) decreased ( P  < 0.01), while TMs increased ( P  < 0.001) significantly as a result of using wastewater for irrigation. Except for Cu, all examined TM accumulating in tomato plants’ roots as opposed to shoots had a bioaccumulation factor (BF) > 1. However, the tomato plant’s shoot had solely undergone Pb and Ni translocation and storage, with a translocation factor (TF) > 1. A significant amount of Fe (5000.1 mg kg −1 ), Pb (360.7 mg kg −1 ), and Mn (356.3 mg kg −1 ) were present in the edible fruits. The ingestion of contaminated crops increases the daily intake rate of metals (DIR). The values of the high hazard quotient (HQ) were obtained (2073.8 and 2558.9 for Pb, 574.0 and 708.3 for Cd, and 41.1 and 50.7 for Fe for adults and children, respectively). Therefore, tomato plants grown in soils irrigated with untreated wastewater may offer a greater danger to human health, indicating that they should not be grown as a crop for human consumption.