Heavy metal contamination in soil and Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.) irrigated with borewell water and paper mill effluent
Mohssen Elbagory, Hassan M. El-Zahaby, EL-Shafeey E. I. EL-Shafeey, Nagwa EL-Khateeb, Alaa El-Dein Omara, Sahar El-Nahrawy, Amal Zayed, Pankaj Kumar, Jogendra Singh
Scientific Reports
Urban Farm DB summary
A field-based comparative study in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, India, compared soil properties, the growth response of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.), and tissue accumulation of cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, manganese and zinc under irrigation with paper mill effluent (PME) versus borewell water as a control. PME irrigation significantly raised soil pH (8.79), electrical conductivity (4.73 dS/cm), organic matter (3.94%) and all six heavy metals (p<0.001); vegetative growth increased, but heavy metal accumulation was pronounced in roots, with bioaccumulation factors for iron and manganese exceeding the hyperaccumulation threshold and root enrichment factors reaching 226.50 for copper and 40.51 for chromium. Dietary risk modeling found that the health risk index from chromium in leaves exceeded the safety threshold in children (HRI=1.05) and approached risk levels for cadmium and chromium in adults, whereas the borewell-irrigated control soil remained within safe agricultural ranges, marking a clear contrast with the contaminated PME-irrigated soil.