Pressmud Subdue Phytoremediation Indices in Lead-Contaminated Soils: A Human Health Perspective

• Published in: Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology Vol. 112; no. 1; p. 16
• Main Authors: Dotaniya, M L, Nagar, M C, Sharma, Amita, Dotaniya, C K, Doutaniya, R K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01-01-2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural wastes; Agriculture; Aquatic Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological magnification; Biomass; Contamination; Crop production; Crop production systems; Crops; Dehydrogenases; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Ecotoxicology; Efficiency; Effluents; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Food contamination; Heavy metals; Humans; Industrial effluents; Industrial pollution; Industrial wastewater; Irrigation systems; Lead; Phytoremediation; Pollutants; Pollution; Pressmud; Soil contamination; Soil pollution; Soil Science & Conservation; Soil sciences; Spinach; System effectiveness; Toxicity; Toxicology; Transfer factor; Translocation; Urban areas; Variance analysis; Waste Water Technology; Wastewater management; Water discharge; Water Management; Water Pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water scarcity; Pressmud; Food chain contamination; Lead contamination; Phytoremediation indices; Soil health
• ISSN: 0007-4861; 1432-0800
• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-023-03848-9

Direct discharge of waste into water bodies and mining are two major sources of lead contamination in ecosystems. Water scarcity promoted the usage of industrial effluent-contaminated waters for crop production, mainly in peri-urban areas. These wastewaters may contain heavy metals and pollute crop ecosystems. These metals can reach the living cell via contaminated raw foodstuffs that grow under these conditions and cause various ill effects in metabolic activities. In this study, graded levels of pressmud (0, 2.5, 5, 10 g/kg) were applied on lead imposed soil with different contamination levels (0, 100, 150, 300 mg/kg) and metal dynamics was studied in spinach crop. Experimental results showed that the addition of pressmud upto 10 mg/kg had decreased different phytoremediation indices in spinach crop. Whereas, increasing Pb level enhanced the indices’ values, indicating accumulation of significant amount of Pb in spinach biomass. However, application of pressmud (upto 10 mg/kg) reduced the bioconcentration factor (BCF) from 0.182 to 0.136, transfer factor (TF) from 0.221 to 0.191, translocation efficiency 66.11–59.34%; whereas, Pb removal enhanced from 0.063 to 0.072 over control treatment. These findings suggest that application of pressmud declined Pb concentration, the BCF and the TF in test crop which lead to less chances of adverse effect in human. These information are very useful for effectively managing wastewater irrigated agricultural crop production systems.