Chromium Poisoning in Buffaloes in the Vicinity of Contaminated Pastureland, Punjab, Pakistan

Maria Ghazzal, Muhammad Iftikhar Hussain (), Zafar Iqbal Khan, M. Habib ur Rahman, Abeer A. El-Habeeb () and Hsi-Hsien Yang ()
Additional contact information
Maria Ghazzal: Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
Muhammad Iftikhar Hussain: Department of Plant Biology & Soil Science, Universidade de Vigo, Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain
Zafar Iqbal Khan: Department of Botany, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 40100, Pakistan
M. Habib ur Rahman: Crop Science Group, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 5, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Abeer A. El-Habeeb: Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Hsi-Hsien Yang: College of Science and Engineering, Chaoyang University of Technology. No. 168, Jifeng E. Rd., Wufeng District, Taichung 413310, Taiwan

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: This article focuses on the toxic element chromium (Cr) in wastewater, its incorporation into soil plant systems, and its relevant toxicity in the food chain as assessed by a health risk assessment from dietary intake. The Nili Ravi buffalo is an important cattle inhabiting Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan, and forage crops grown on soils contaminated with Cr might cause toxicity in the food chain by local inhabitants eating meat. The soil, forage and animal blood samples were collected from five different locations in Tehsil Sahiwal (Chak Dhool, Bagabalocha, Chandia, Dhool Bala and Kakrani) twice at six-month intervals. A total of 30 samples from each ecological zone were collected from the soil and forage crops ( Zea mays, Sorghum bicolor, Trifolium alexandrinum ). The samples from zone-V and zone-IV showed the maximum concentration of Cr because these areas receive highly contaminated water for irrigation. The Cr was greater than the permissible limits. Environmental indices for all samples ranged below 1. The bioaccumulation and pollution load of Cr in soil and forage crops due to wastewater irrigation can contaminate the whole food chain via the soil, forages and animals. The health risk index (HRI) and a high value of enrichment factor were found for Cr in some sites. The Cr concentration was higher during the summer season than winter. Fodder crops with different concentrations and an elevated level of Cr were observed in maize. Attention should be paid when wastewater is used for fodder crop irrigation and its potential risks to human health following dairy product (milk, meat) entry into the food chain.

Keywords: heavy metals; bioaccumulation; chromium; health risk index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15095/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15095/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15095-:d:972884

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().