Abstract
In absence of adequate water supply local vegetable vendors in Mumbai use sewage and industrial waste water for agricultural purpose. This sewage and industrial waste water contains various organic and inorganic compounds which have direct health effects on human life. The response of Alium cepa genetic material can be used to evaluate the effect of potential genotoxic and cytoxic substances in the environment. In the present study, we have used Alium cepa root tip assay to evaluate physiological and genotoxic effects of waste water on vegetables, particularly radish grown along the areas of railway track. Samples were collected from three different sites in Mumbai region and analyzed for their heavy metal content. Similarly, effect of contaminated waste water on the external morphology of onion roots was observed using root length inhibition assay. Genotoxicity was also determined by observing the Mitotic Index (MI) and Chromosomal Aberrations (CA). Significant differences in MI and root length inhibition with increasing concentrations of different samples were observed. The diverse CA were increased significantly (p<0.05) with increase in concentration. Apart from this, bioaccumulation was also studied in soil and radish samples where concentration of heavy metals like Cd, Pb was significantly high. Consuming such radishes grown on untreated water poses health hazards to human population. Frequent and continual use of untreated waste water leads to bioaccumulation in radish as well as makes soil unfit for agricultural use.
Published Version
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