Abstract
This study reports on the assessment of the growth potential of five edible vegetables, which were grown in Cr(VI) spiked soils. The vegetable plants that were used in this study were Vigna angularis, Cicer arietinum, Spinacia oleracea, Amaranthus dubius Thell and Phaseolus vulgaris. Dried ground samples from roots, stems and leaves were analysed for various oxidation states of Cr. The daily intake of chromium, hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) methods were employed to assess the potential human health risks posed by these Cr oxidation states through vegetable consumption. The results showed that Vigna angularis was the only vegetable that germinated in highly concentrated Cr(VI) in the simulated soil (456 mg/kg). The highest total chromium (ChT) bioaccumulated in the roots was found in Phaseolus vulgaris at 0.8. The highest ChT translocation factor in the stem was that of Cicer arietinum and Vigna angularis at 0.30. The same plants translocated the highest ChT to the leaf at 0.7. A child or an adult consuming such contaminated Cicer arietinum vegetables were likely to take in between 508 and 785 mg/day of ChT, which are above the World Health Organisation guidelines of 220 and 340 mg/day, respectively. The highest HQ was found in Cicer arietinum at 8.7 and 13.4 for adults and children, respectively. The same species of plants also had high HI at 17.4 and 27.2 for adults and children, respectively. This indicated that consumers of the edible vegetables grown in Cr(VI) rich soils may be exposed to health risks, and the children were more likely to be vulnerable to these adverse effects than the adults.
Highlights
Industrial activities tend to generate a wide range of wastes, which have the potential to impact the ecosystems negatively and lead to high-costs of treatment when such wastes are discharged to unprotected environments [1]
This study aimed at evaluating the levels of Cr species that can be accumulated by Spinacia oleracea, Amaranthus dubius Thell, Phaseolus vulgaris, Cicer arietinum and Vigna angularis as they germinated and grew in Cr(VI) spiked soils
This study focused on the cultivation of vegetables on Cr(VI) simulated soils and estimated the average daily intake of Cr by adult and child consumers of these vegetables
Summary
Industrial activities tend to generate a wide range of wastes, which have the potential to impact the ecosystems negatively and lead to high-costs of treatment when such wastes are discharged to unprotected environments [1]. Environmental laws on waste management and waste disposal are either non-existent or ineffective where they do exist [2]. The use of soils from highly contaminated dumpsites as a soil improver to grow edible crops is a common. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 470; doi:10.3390/ijerph17020470 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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