Blood, Hair and Feces as an Indicator of Environmental Exposure of Sheep, Cow and Buffalo to Cobalt: A Health Risk Perspectives

Abstract

Exposure to toxic metals (TMs) such as cobalt (Co) can cause lifelong carcinogenic disorders and mutagenic outcomes. TMs enter ground water and rivers from human activity, anthropogenic contamination, and the ecological environment. The present study was conducted to evaluate the influence of sewage water irrigation on cobalt (Co) toxicity and bioaccumulation in a soil-plant environment and to assess the health risk of grazing livestock via forage consumption. Cobalt is a very necessary element for the growth of plants and animals; however, higher concentrations have toxic impacts. Measurement of Co in plant, soil and water samples was conducted via wet digestion method using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The Co pollution severity was examined in soil, forage crops (Sorghum bicolor Kuntze, Sesbania bispinosa (Jacq.) W. Wight, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Suaeda fruticosa (L.) Forssk. and Tribulus terrestris L.) in blood, hair and feces of sheep, cow and buffalo from district Toba-Tek-Singh, Punjab, Pakistan. Three sites were selected for investigation of Co level in soil and forage samples. Highest concentration of Co was 0.65 and 0.35 mg/kg occurring in S. bicolor at site I. The sheep blood, cow hair and sheep feces samples showed highest concentrations of 0.545, 0.549 and 0.548 mg/kg, respectively at site I and site II. Bioconcentration factor, pollution load index, enrichment factor and daily intake were found to be higher (0.667, 0.124, 0.12 and 0.0007 mg/kg) in soil, S. bicolor, S. fruticosa and in buffalo, respectively, at site I. It was concluded that forage species irrigated with wastewater are safe for consumption of livestock. However, though the general values were lower than the permissible maximum limit, it was observed that the bioaccumulation in the forage species was higher. Therefore, soil and food chain components should be avoided from trace metal contamination, and other means of nonconventional water resources should be employed for forages irrigation.

DNA damage in inhabitants exposed to heavy metals near Hudiara drain, Lahore, Pakistan

“…The highest concentration of Cu and Cd was reported in wheat and rice in most of the studies on soil receiving a high load of sewage sludge or wastewater 36 . Ni in sampled wheat grains irrigated through the Hudiara drain of the current study was higher than the permissible limits of FAO and WHO 2000 37 . The higher content of Ni in wheat grain might be due to different inputs of waste from different industries, especially glass, paint, and textile 38 .…”

“…The higher metal level in meat could be due to the grazing of animals in polluted areas. The present study revealed lead concentration exceeded the permissible limits established by WHO 37 . The present study's findings align with the previous study, which reported a higher Pb level in the industrial polluted areas than in non-polluted areas.…”

A study on the contamination assessment, health risk and mobility of two heavy metals in the soil-plants-ruminants system of a typical agricultural region in the semi arid environment

“…Metal content in forage  conversion factor  food intake by sheep Average weight Food intake and average weight of sheep were 1.3 kg and 75 kg respectively (Chen et al 2021a(Chen et al , 2021bHussain et al 2021).…”

Heavy metals assessment of hospital wastewater during COVID-19 pandemic

“…The accumulated micropollutant bought by wastewater can cause a toxicological impact [14], such as neurotoxicity [15], nephrotoxicity [16], carcinogenicity [7], hepatoxicity, immunology toxicity, cardiovascular  ISSN: Int J Public Health Sci, Vol. 12, No.…”