Assessment of potential toxicological risk for public health of heavy metal iron in diverse wheat varieties irrigated with various types of waste water in South Asian country

Abstract

Various field trials were performed at different locations of Punjab, Pakistan to study the effect of trace metals on uptake of iron (Fe) and wheat productivity as well as the health risk assessment by ingestion of wheat grains grown with application of different irrigation sources. The experimental design was laid out in RCBD having four replications. Soil samples were taken before sowing of crop from 0 to 15 cm depth and Triticum astivum samples were taken after irrigation through different water treatments examined for pollution load index (PLI), bioaccumulation factor (BAF), translocation factor (TF), bioconcentration factor (BCF), daily intake of metal (DIM) and health risk index (HRI) parameters. Fe concentrations in soil from five districts where wheat types watered with 3 different supplies ranged from 30.28 to 41.03 mg/kg and in grain sample ranged between 1.36 and 6.74 mg/kg. All the samples had DIM values of Fe were observed lower than standard tolerable limits and values of HRI less than 1 which indicates that there is no Fe toxicity due to utilization of wheat grains.