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Research Journal of Environmental Toxicology

Year: 2021 | Volume: 15 | Issue: 1 | Page No.: 1-10
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Authors

U. Bawa

U. Bawa

A. AbdulHameed

A.J. Nayaya

A.G. Ezra

Keywords

Research Article

Health Risk Assessment of Food Crops Fumigated with Metal Based Pesticides Grown in North-Eastern Nigeria

U. Bawa U. Bawa's LiveDNA, A. AbdulHameed, A.J. Nayaya and A.G. Ezra
Background and Objective: Heavy metals contents in food crops and their associated human health through food consumption has been a major health concern. This study was designed to determine the concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, Zn) in food crops fumigated with pesticides as the only source of contamination and their associated human health risk. Materials and Methods: Samples of seven selected and commonly consumed food crops and their corresponding soil were randomly collected from farmlands fumigated with pesticides. Heavy metals were measured by atomic absorption spectrometry after acid digestion. The mean difference between the heavy metal in each plant part (root, stem, leave and fruit) was determined using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with SPSS software. Health risk assessment and pollution indices from the consumption of each plant were computed using the standard formula as described USEPA. Results: The concentrations of heavy metals in most of the studied crops varied significantly in different parts of the plants and for different metals. Most of the studied crops showed bioaccumulation factor >1 indicating greater absorption of metals and bioaccumulation factor values were higher for Cd compared to other metals. The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of metals were above the oral reference dose (RfD) in all the studied crops for Cd and in Allium cepa, Zea mays and Oryza sativa for Pb, while hazard index showed slightly health risk from the consumption of all metals in Oryza sativa. Conclusion: The consumption of the studied food crops fumigated with pesticides in the study area may pose a great health risk and hence regular monitoring/screening of heavy metals in pesticides should be enforced.
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