Risks of Irrigation with Wastewater on Soil and Plants

Sahar, K. M. Kenawy

Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University (Girls), Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract: Environmental pollution and food safety are two of the most important issues in our time. Soil and water pollution, in particular, have historically impacted on food safety which represents an important threat to human health. It has been observed that agricultural soils have been contaminated due to the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water and disposal of chemicals nearby. Over  the last decades, environmental contamination with heavy metals has increased drastically. Soil pollution with heavy metals will lead to losses in agricultural yield and hazardous health effects as they enter into food chains. Contaminated food through dietary intake has become the main potential risk impacts on human health. This study aimed at investigating the concentration of some cations, anions, macronutrients  and  some heavy metals in irrigation water and  soil, also determine the concentration of the studied heavy metals in  six vegetable plants irrigated with treated wastewater from El- Gabal El- Asfar farm (EGAF). The vegetables parsley, tomato, pepper, pumpkin, cucumber and jew^,s mallow were collected from El- Gabal El- Asfar farm, analyzed for trace metals (Cd, Co, Ni, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn) and were compared with the literature reported values. The results indicated that generally, the examined irrigation water, soils and collected plants were heavily contaminated with the heavy metals and exceeded the standard values in most cases.

Keywords: Wastewater, heavy metals, vegetables, permissible levels, food safety.

Pages: 338 – 356 | Full PDF Paper