scholarly journals Heavy Metal Uptake of Corn Irrigated with Human Urine

Author(s):  
Horacio Sabejon Factura

<p>Pit latrine (PL) is one of the most common disposal systems for human excreta in low-income countries but because it is a hole in the ground, infiltration of liquid effluent into the soil can continuously occur. Poor sanitation systems permit the spread of heavy metals in urine to water bodies especially the groundwater. This study investigated the accumulation of heavy metals in shoots of corn plants irrigated with urine. A pot experiment with corn was conducted under greenhouse conditions. Urine was diluted to 3:1 ratio (water and urine respectively) and was compared to control (water only). Using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), heavy metals such as Boron, Barium, Cobalt, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Nickel, Silicon, Strontium and Zinc were detected in shoots of all plants with contents ranging from 0.22 to 2,487.44 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg). The higher amounts detected in urine irrigated plants than the control proved the presence of the metals in the urine. Reuse of urine will definitely benefit farmers while at the same time reduce the risk of heavy metal contamination in groundwater.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoshyar Saadi Ali ◽  
Dhary Alewy Almashhadany ◽  
Hawraz Sami Khalid

Heavy metal contamination of poultry meat is a critical issue for human health due to associated risks of cytotoxicity and systemic pathologies after ingestion of such metals. A total of twenty chicken liver samples were collected from markets of Erbil city and analyzed for ten heavy metals contents by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry. The targeted metals were cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se). The average concentrations (mg/kg) of targeted trace elements were 0.06±0.027, 0.06±0.05, 2.05±0.34, 1.85±0.47, 0.15±0.17, and 33.53±5.24 for Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn respectively. Copper (Cu) levels significantly exceeded the maximum permissible limit of WHO. Moreover, the average concentrations of toxic heavy metals and selenium were 0.07±0.037, 0.278±0.10, 0.11±0.083, and 2.01±0.454 mg/kg for Cd, Pb, Hg, and Se respectively. Hg and Pb levels exceeded the permissible limits of WHO. Higher levels of Cu and Hg in poultry may pose a serious threat to consumers which demand countermeasures and precautions to be taken. Iraqi Standards Authority and relevant official institutions are strongly recommended to regulate safe disposal of heavy metal waste in the environment to reduce animal exposure to such metals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84
Author(s):  
Hüseyin Karlidağ ◽  
Metin Turan ◽  
Fırat Ege Karaat ◽  
Ekrem Ozlu ◽  
Francisco Arriaga ◽  
...  

In order to evaluate the effects of different transportation hubs on cultivated soil and apricots, macro and micro elements and heavy metal contents of fruit, leaf, kernel and soil samples collected from apricot orchards located at the border of the railroad, the motorway, the airport, and an orchard far from transportation modes were detected by ICP/OES (inductively coupled plasma / optical emission spectrometry). The results indicated the highest Cd, Pb and Ni contents of soil, fruit, and kernel samples under impacts of railroad transportation modes, whereas the highest contents of leaf were found under motorway side. All fruit samples contained higher amounts of Cd and Pb compared to permissible limits of FAO/WHO, and contents differentiated between sampling locations. There were no correlative relations found between transportation modes and macro-micro element contents. As a conclusion, in terms of heavy metal contamination, the orchards located at railway sides have the highest risk and this was followed by motorway side.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian Pedrinelli ◽  
Rafael Vessecchi Amorim Zafalon ◽  
Roberta Bueno Ayres Rodrigues ◽  
Mariana Pamplona Perini ◽  
Renata Maria Consentino Conti ◽  
...  

Abstract Pet owners often don’t acknowledge the need for home-prepared diet formulation by a trained professional and may use recipes from sources such as the internet. Macronutrient and mineral composition of home-prepared diets were analyzed and compared to NRC and FEDIAF recommendations, and heavy metal concentrations were analyzed and compared to FDA maximum tolerable levels (MTL) for dogs and cats. Recipes of home-prepared diets for adult dogs (n = 75) and cats (n = 25) were evaluated. Analyses of protein, fat, and fiber were performed according to AOAC, and mineral and heavy metal analyses were performed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). None of the diets supplied recommended levels of all nutrients evaluated, and more than 84.0% of diets presented three or more nutrients below recommendations. Nutrients with most levels below recommendations were calcium and potassium in recipes for dogs and iron and zinc in recipes for cats. As for heavy metals, levels of lead, cobalt, mercury, uranium, and vanadium were above MTLs. Results suggest that home-prepared diets may be a health risk to dogs and cats if not properly formulated. Furthermore, the chronic heavy metal intake must be better elucidated in order to understand the full impact of results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (30) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raya Qaid Alansi ◽  
Abdelhafeez M.A. Mohammed ◽  
Mahmoud M. Ali ◽  
Wadie Ahmed Mokbel Ghalib ◽  
Sajan Chimmikuttanda Ponnappa

Background. In recent years, mitigation of groundwater contamination resulting from the limited availability of freshwater for domestic use has become an important issue. The presence of heavy metals in water could have adverse effects on both plant and animal life. Objectives. The main objective of the present study was to determine possible heavy metal contamination in groundwater around Al-Buraihi sewage station in Taiz, Yemen and to understand possible sources of contamination and their relationships with groundwater. Methods. Wastewater samples were collected from a wastewater stabilization pond from Al-Buraihi sewage station and borewell water samples were collected from the vicinity. The presence of heavy metals was quantified using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Pearson correlation test was performed to understand the relationship between wastewater and groundwater samples. Results. Physical variables including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO) and temperature and elements such as silver (Ag), arsenic (As), aluminum (Al), barium (Ba), boron (B), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), molybdenum, nickel (Ni), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn) exceeded the permissible limits recommended by international standards in wastewater samples. Conclusions. Treated sewage wastewater in the study area is not suitable for irrigation as the elements/heavy metals are accumulated in soil and plants and may be accumulated in humans and animals through bio-accumulation. In addition, these heavy metals reach the water table and aquifers through percolation, thereby polluting groundwater. Competing Interests. The authors declare no competing financial interests.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amar Deep Soren ◽  
Arun Kumar Yadav

Abstract Medicinal plants possess several metals obtained naturally or through pollution. The study evaluates the genotoxic potentials and the presence of essential elements and toxic heavy metals in Sesbania sesban var. bicolor (leaves), Cyperus compressus (roots) and Asparagus racemosus (roots), which are used as anthelmintics in the traditional medicine of the Santhals in India. Genotoxicity study was performed as per Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines in rats. Element contents were evaluated using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Administration of S. sesban var. bicolor (400 mg/kg), C. compressus (700 mg/kg) and A. racemosus (500 mg/kg) did not cause any abnormalities in the chromosomes. Elemental analysis revealed the presence of lead (5.00 ± 0.05, 4.98 ± 0.01, 4.99 ± 0.07 ppm), cadmium (4.99 ± 0.04, 4.90 ± 0.03, 5.00 ± 0.08 ppm) and arsenic (0.98 ± 0.03, 0.41 ± 0.05, 0.92 ± 0.03 ppm), respectively. Although genotoxic potentials were lacking, the presence of toxic heavy metals in them is a cause of concern.


2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Heltai ◽  
Ilona Fekete ◽  
Gábor Halász ◽  
Katalin Kovács ◽  
Márk Horváth ◽  
...  

Abstract For the characterisation of the environmental mobility of heavy metal contamination in aquatic sediments, the EU Bureau of Reference has proposed a fractionation by sequential extraction procedure. For its validation, the CRM-701 sample is available containing Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. In this paper, the matrix-matched calibration problems are presented. A multi-elemental inductively coupled plasma-optical emission technique is employed for the detection of heavy metals in the extracts. It was established that the sensitivities are strongly influenced by the extractants, which causes significant matrix effects: the sensitivities are strongly influenced by the solvents applied in extraction steps; the summarised recoveries show an acceptable agreement with the certified values; however, in the individual extraction steps for certain elements significant differences may occur due to the neglected interferences. Therefore, further optimisation is required utilising the flexible line selection possibility offered by the HORIBA Jobin Yvon ACTIVA-M instrument.


Crystals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niannian Yang ◽  
Runkai Wang ◽  
Pinhua Rao ◽  
Lili Yan ◽  
Wenqi Zhang ◽  
...  

Calcium alginate (CA) beads as a green sorbent were easily fabricated in this study using sodium alginate crosslinking with CaCl2, and the crosslinking pathway was the exchange between the sodium ion of α-L-guluronic acid and Ca(II). The experimental study was conducted on Cu(II), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) as the model heavy metals and the concentration was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The characterization and sorption behavior of the CA beads were analyzed in detail via using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The adsorption experiments demonstrated that the CA beads exhibited a high removal efficiency for the selective adsorption of Cu(II) from the tetra metallic mixture solution and an excellent adsorption capacity of the heavy metals separately. According to the isotherm studies, the maximum uptake of Cu(II) could reach 107.53 mg/g, which was significantly higher than the other three heavy metal ions in the tetra metallic mixture solution. Additionally, after five cycles of adsorption and desorption, the uptake rate of Cu(II) on CA beads was maintained at 92%. According to the properties mentioned above, this material was assumed to be applied to reduce heavy metal pollution or recover valuable metals from waste water.


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