Assessment of Human Health Risk of Zinc and Lead by Consuming Food Crops Supplied with Excessive Fertilizers

Authors

Kafeel Ahmad, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Asma Ashfaq, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Zafar Iqbal Khan, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, PakistanFollow
Shahzad Akhtar, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, PakistanFollow
Sana Rani, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Farzana Siddique, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Shamayem Aslam, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Ghulam Mustafa, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Rana Muhammad Zubair, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Hafsa Memona, Department of Zoology, Queen Mary College, Lahore, Pakistan
Aima Iram Batool, Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Muhammad Nadeem, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Javed Shoukat, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Shahzadi Mahpara, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
Mumtaz Akhtar, Department of Biological Sciences, Superior University, Sargodha Campus, Pakistan
Muhammad Umer Farooq Awan, Department of Botany, GC University Lahore, Pakistan
Ilker Ugulu, Buca Faculty of Education, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey
Hamid Raza, Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Pakistan
Muhammad Ameer Hamza, Department of Zoology, University of Sargodha, Pakistan

Abstract

For the study of heavy metals impact on human beings, areas in Sargodha city that were supplied with various types of fertilizers were chosen. The three industrial areas; (Bhalwal, Sillanwali, and Sahiwal) of this city were explored for research reasons. The researchers wanted to know how much heavy metal was in the soil, food crops, and human. Excess fertilizer use contributes to global pollution. Farmyard manure, urea, and potassium chloride were used on Site 1; urea phosphate, manure, and ammonium sulphate were used on Site 2; and super phosphate, ammonium phosphate, and nitrate phosphate were used on Site 3. Samples of commonly used food crops, their respective soils and blood of residents who ingested the food crops of the studied area were collected. The zinc and lead levels in soil (8.30-16.80 and 1.80-12.71 mg/kg) and food crops (0.26-2.02 and 2.26-4.70 mg/kg) were far lower than WHO permitted limits. Blood mean concentration of both Zn (2.30-4.30 mg/L) and Ni (0.24-0.70 mg/L) were found maximum in residents of Site 3. The values of pollution load index, bioconcentration factor, enrichment factor for both zinc and lead were (0.18-0.37 and0.220-0.948), (0.027-0.138 and 0.316-1.705), (0.020-0.144 and 0.515-2.780), respectively. Daily intake of metal (0.004-0.008 and 0.001-0.002 mg/kg/day) and health risk index (0.0001-0.016 and 0.005-0.115) values were observed to be lower in individuals for Zn and Pb, respectively. In present work values of all pollution indices wereSo, there would be no human health hazard.

Article History

Received: Sep 06, 2022; Accepted: Feb 13, 2023; Published: June 28, 2023

Recommended Citation

Ahmad, K., Ashfaq, A., Khan, Z. I., Akhtar, S., Rani, S., Siddique, F., Aslam, S., Mustafa, G., Zubair, R. M., Memona, H., Batool, A. I., Nadeem, M., Shoukat, J., Mahpara, S., Akhtar, M., Awan, M. F., Ugulu, I., Raza, H., & Hamza, M. A. (2023). Assessment of Human Health Risk of Zinc and Lead by Consuming Food Crops Supplied with Excessive Fertilizers, Journal of Bioresource Management, 10 (2).