TRACE METAL ACCUMULATION IN VEGETABLES GROWN IN INDUSTRIAL AND SEMI-URBAN AREAS – A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The main sources of trace metals to plants are the air or soil media from which trace elements are taken up by the root or foliage. The air, soil and vegetable samples were collected from Industrial, Semi-urban and rural areas and were analysed for Pb, Zn, Ni and Cu. The rural area is free from contaminant sources and is treated as control. From each representative area composite samples of Tomato, Lady's finger, Capsicum and leafy vegetable Bimli were collected and anlysed for Pb, Zn, Ni and Cu. The air environments in Industrial and Semi-Urban areas are enriched with the four trace metals, but the concentrations were within the permissible levels. This indicates that, despite the close proximity of the agricultural lands to high emitting industrial sources, soils do not seem to have been contaminated by atmospheric deposition. Remarkable differences were observed between the trace metal content in vegetables of rural areas with semi-urban and industrial areas. In industrial area Nickel, Zinc were reported in higher concentrations in tomato and capsicum where as in semi urban area the concentration of Cu is 2-3 times higher in tomato and lady's finger on comparison with the rural vegetables. Based on the air accumulation factor and concentration factor calculations, the trace metals of Pb and Zn in industrial and semi-urban areas were found to be receiving the contributions from both atmospheric and soil inputs in all the four crops.