Assessment of Heavy Metal Distribution and Health Risk of Vegetable Crops Grown on Soils Amended with Municipal Solid Waste Compost for Sustainable Urban Agriculture

Abstract

Rapid urbanization is one of the key factors that leads to defragmentation and the shrinking of agricultural land. It further leads to the generation of an ample amount of municipal waste. Several technologies have emerged in the past for its utilization, and in this regard, composting is one of the conventional approaches gaining popularity in modern agriculture. To overcome the possible criticality of intense urbanization, the concept of urban agriculture is taking shape. Municipal solid waste compost (MSWC) has been popularly explored for the soil amendments and nutritional requirements of crops. With this, the assessment of soil pollution (due to the heavy metals presently found in MSWC) is a required step for its safe application in agriculture. The present study aims at assessing the utilization of MSWC (in different ratios) to amend the soil and its impact on the growth and yield of brinjal (Solanum melongena), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). The study also explored the uptake of heavy metals by plants and their risk to human consumption. The findings suggested that MSWC amendments upgraded the physio-chemical properties of soil, including organic matter (OM) and micronutrients, and increased the heavy metal concentrations in soil. Heavy metal analysis underlined the presence of several heavy metals both in soil and crops. Total metal concentration in soil increased with increased MSWC dosage. Concerning metal uptake by crop plants, 25% of MSWC was found to impart metal concentrations within permissible values in edible parts of crops. On the contrary, 50%, 75%, and 100% compost showed higher metal concentrations in the crops. A Health Risk Index (HRI) of less than 1 was found to be associated with soil amended with 25% MSWC. Our study implies that MSWC significantly improved the growth and yield of crops, and it can be considered an alternative to chemical fertilizer but only in a safer ratio (≤25%). However, further studies are required, especially on field conditions to validate the findings regarding metal accumulation.