ABSTRACT:
Consumption of food crops contaminated with heavy metals is a major food chain route for human exposure. Heavy metal contamination of soil resulting from sewage irrigation is a cause of serious concern due to the potential health impacts of consuming contaminated products. In this study an assessment made of the impact of sewage irrigation on heavy metals contamination of soil in which many vegetables like Spinach, Cabbage, Beetroot, Reddish, Okra, Tomato and Cucumber is widely cultivated and consumed in Bikaner, particularly by the poor. The objective of this investigation was to determine the effects of untreated sewage water irrigation on accumulation of metals in soil. A field study was conducted at five major sites that were irrigated by untreated sewage water in the suburban areas aronnd Bikaner city, India. For analyzing the amount of heavy metals 12 samples of irrigated soil were collected during the summer season in the month of may 2016 and were analyzed for 5 heavy metals. The monitored heavy metals included Cd, Cr, Ni, As and Pb for their accumulation to provide baseline data regarding environmental safety and the suitability of sewage irrigation in the future. The C/P index was calculated. The C/P index of the studied soils indicated the significance of pollution indices of heavy metals. The study concludes that the use of untreated sewage water for irrigation has increased the contamination of Cd in soil causing health risk in the long term from this practice. The study also points to the fact that the extent of Cd in irrigated soils from all areas ranged from severe contamination to slight pollution.
Cite this article:
Anuradha Aseri, Sushma Jain. Assessment of heavy metals in soil irrigated with sewage water of different areas around Bikaner city. Asian J. Research Chem. 2018; 11(2):413-418. doi: 10.5958/0974-4150.2018.00075.5
Cite(Electronic):
Anuradha Aseri, Sushma Jain. Assessment of heavy metals in soil irrigated with sewage water of different areas around Bikaner city. Asian J. Research Chem. 2018; 11(2):413-418. doi: 10.5958/0974-4150.2018.00075.5 Available on: https://www.ajrconline.org/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2018-11-2-35