Pollution Status of Pakistan: A Retrospective Review on Heavy Metal Contamination of Water, Soil, and Vegetables

Abstract

Trace heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, chromium, nickel, and mercury, are important environmental pollutants, particularly in areas with high anthropogenic pressure. In addition to these metals, copper, manganese, iron, and zinc are also important trace micronutrients. The presence of trace heavy metals in the atmosphere, soil, and water can cause serious problems to all organisms, and the ubiquitous bioavailability of these heavy metal can result in bioaccumulation in the food chain which especially can be highly dangerous to human health. This study reviews the heavy metal contamination in several areas of Pakistan over the past few years, particularly to assess the heavy metal contamination in water (ground water, surface water, and waste water), soil, sediments, particulate matter, and vegetables. The listed contaminations affect the drinking water quality, ecological environment, and food chain. Moreover, the toxicity induced by contaminated water, soil, and vegetables poses serious threat to human health.

Heavy metals in soil and vegetables grown with municipal wastewater in Lahore

“…Oliveira (2012) reported that the level of heavy metal concentration vary with parts of the plant as most of the plants have higher quantity of heavy metals in roots and stems; however their quantity lowers down in the leaves. Many studies in Pakistan have reported Cr in soil in permissible range of 100-150 mg/Kg with global mean soil concentration of 60 mg/Kg (Waseem et al, 2014).While vegetables grown on soils irrigated with drain water showed Cr concentration above the tolerable ranges (Perveen et al, 2012).…”

A pilot study for construction of a new cadmium-sensing yeast strain carrying a reporter plasmid with the <i>JLP1</i> promoter

“…Although the adverse health effects of Cd are wellknown and the underlying mechanisms have been disclosed in degrees (see our review: Koedrith and Seo, 2011;Kwon et al, 2013;Kim et al, 2015), exposure to Cd is still being reported in some parts of the world (Ikeda et al, 2004;Pan et al, 2010;Waseem et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015;Johnson et al, 2016). In addition to its discharge from mines, the emission of Cd has markedly increased since the late 20th century.…”

Online Informative and Educational Resources on the Benefits That a Lifestyle Aimed at the Primary Prevention of Cancer May Also Provide for General Health

“…However, we must be careful if the environment is chemically or biologically contaminated; the titles of four articles regarding such problems [33]- [36] …”