Spatial distribution and contamination assessment of six heavy metals in soils and their transfer into mature tobacco plants in Kushtia District, Bangladesh

Abstract

Although the tobacco production and consumption rate in Bangladesh is very high and a substantial portion of premature deaths is caused by tobacco smoking, the status of heavy metals in tobacco plants has not yet determined. This study, therefore, investigated the concentrations of Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, Cr, and Zn in tobacco plants and their surrounding agricultural soils in Kushtia District, Bangladesh. The geochemical maps showed a similar spatial distribution pattern of the analyzed metals and identified Shempur, Kharara, Taragunia, and Shantidanga as metal hot spots. Geoanalytical indexes were applied to assess the extent of soil contamination, and the results depicted that the soils of Shempur, Kharara, Taragunia, and Shantidanga were moderately contaminated where Cd contributed the most to contamination degree (C d) in spite of its relative low content. However, other five areas in Kushtia District were suggested as uncontaminated according to both C d and pollution load index (PLI). The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) showed no possible indication of human health risks via ingestion of agricultural soils. This study also determined that human activities such as excess application of commercial fertilizers, animal manures, and metal-based pesticides were the sources of Cu, Ni, Cd, and Cr enrichment in soils and that the metals into tobacco plants were transported from the soils. The present study conclusively suggested that regulation of improper use of agrochemicals and continuous monitoring of heavy metals in tobacco plants are needed to reduce the tobacco-related detrimental health problems in Bangladesh.

Level of Contamination Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in the Urban Soils of Volos City (Central Greece)

“…The PTE contents were lower than those in soil samples in Athens, as described by Massas et al [18] and Kelepertzis and Argyraki [5]. The soil samples seemed to be less contaminated than soils in areas with high anthropogenic activities [26,30,31,48]. The previous studies of Antoniadis et al [48] and Kelepertzis et al [30] made extensive reference to the impact of industrial activity on the peri-urban environment of Volos.…”

“…Spatial display and pollutant distribution allow for a more efficient perspective to monitor soil contamination [22,23]. Spatial data management has a large range of applications along with great advantages [24,25] Methodologies incorporating GIS can be applied in soil contamination projects to facilitate the interpretation, estimation, and evaluation of information between stakeholders, which will improve stakeholder communication in the decision making process [26].The potential burden on the urban environment due to the presence of heavy metals in urban soils, along with the particles suspended in the air and deposited on the soil surface, has gained intense research interest in recent years [27,28]. However, limited studies are focused on risk assessment in urban and suburban areas, on densely populated areas, or on the industrial cities of Greece [29][30][31].…”

Heavy Metal Contamination in Rice-Producing Soils of Hunan Province, China and Potential Health Risks

“…This result indicated slight pollution of the four elements in local soils and was probably due to agriculture activities. Those activities have been identified as contributors moderately increasing toxic heavy metal pollution through the application of various types of chemical pesticides and fertilizers [ 40 , 41 ]. The As level ranged from 3.16 to 45.2 with a large standard deviation (14.9).…”

Industrial metal pollution in water and probabilistic assessment of human health risk

“…On the contrary, some metals (e.g., As, Hg, Cd and Pb) are highly toxic at very low concentration with no known benefit for human health (Kavcar et al, 2009;Saha and Zaman, 2013). When entering enter into the environment, these metals can disrupt not only the aquatic ecosystem but also the human health (Quandt et al, 2010;Saha et al, 2016).…”