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. 2024 Jun 6;10(11):e32575.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32575. eCollection 2024 Jun 15.

Transfer of heavy metals from soil to vegetables: A comparative assessment of different irrigation water sources

Kiomars Sharafi  1 , Abdullah Khalid Omer  2 , Borhan Mansouri  3 , Tooraj Massahi  4 , Hamed Soleimani  5 , Masoud Moradi  4 , Kimya Parnoon  4 , Gholamreza Ebrahimzadeh  6
Affiliations

Transfer of heavy metals from soil to vegetables: A comparative assessment of different irrigation water sources

Kiomars Sharafi et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the transfer factor (TF) of heavy metals (HMs) from soil to commonly consumed vegetables irrigated with different water sources. The field study covered 36 m2 of agricultural land in Kermanshah province, Iran, divided into nine equal-sized plots. Coriander, basil, and radish were the three types of vegetables cultivated and subjected to irrigation over two months, utilizing three different water sources: treated wastewater effluent (TWE), river water (RW), and well water + nitrogen fertilizer (WWF). After the irrigation and harvesting stages, soil samples from the cultivation area and harvested vegetables were collected. These samples underwent analysis using the ICP-OES method to assess HM levels and subsequent calculation of the TF of HMs from soil to plants. The results revealed that the TF levels indicated plants' relatively weak response (TF < 1) to the absorption of HMs. For non-toxic elements (Mn, Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni), TF values were generally higher than those for toxic elements (Cd, As, Pb) across all three vegetable types and irrigation treatments. The study's findings suggest that the TF of HMs in the studied vegetables varied based on the irrigation source and vegetable type. Various factors, including the type of irrigation source and vegetable, influenced the TF of HMs, each having different impacts on the transfer rate of each HM. The study highlights the importance of monitoring irrigation water and soil quality to prevent the accumulation of HMs in cultivated vegetables, thereby mitigating potential risks to human health.

Keywords: Heavy metals; Irrigation; Soil; Transfer factor; Vegetables.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The method of placing the vegetables on designated plots and watering them with different irrigating treatments.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The transfer factor of each specific heavy metal among various soils irrigated with different sources. *P < 0.05: Significant difference (It means that at least one of the pairwise comparisons was significant); **P > 0.05: Non-significant difference (It means that non-pairwise comparisons were significant). The depicted error bars represent the standard deviation.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The transfer factor of each specific heavy metal among various vegetables irrigated with different sources. *P < 0.05: Significant difference (It means that at least one of the pairwise comparisons was significant); **P > 0.05: Non-significant difference (It means that non-pairwise comparisons were significant). The depicted error bars represent the standard deviation.
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