Health risk assessment of heavy metal contamination in vegetables irrigated with wastewater: a case study from peri-urban Bhopal, India.
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Wastewater irrigation plays a vital role in sustaining peri-urban agriculture across developing countries, offering a reliable source of water and nutrients but posing potential risks to soil, crop, and groundwater quality. This study evaluates heavy metal transfer from irrigation wastewater and agricultural soils to edible vegetables and examines the associated health risks in peri-urban Bhopal, India. Twenty composite samples each of irrigation wastewater and soils, along with forty samples from twelve commonly consumed vegetable species, were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The highest median concentrations in vegetables were recorded for Fe (14.60 mg kg-1), Al (7.59 mg kg-1), Mn (4.29 mg kg-1), and Zn (3.15 mg kg-1), with detectable levels of Cd (0.018 mg kg-1) and Pb (0.069 mg kg-1). Soils showed elevated concentrations of Fe (33,101 mg kg-1), Mn (903 mg kg-1), and Al (1147 mg kg-1) along with significant soil-vegetable correlations for Zn, Cu, and Cd, identifying soil as the main contamination source. Elevated bioconcentration factors in garlic, radish, mustard, spinach, and bathua indicated a high potential for trophic transfer. Health risk assessment revealed that Cd intake exceeded tolerable daily limits for both children and adults, with hazard indices above unity and lifetime cancer risks surpassing acceptable thresholds (10-4). Although groundwater was not directly sampled, the observed accumulation of metals in wastewater-irrigated soils signals potential leaching to shallow aquifers, especially during monsoonal recharge. These findings highlight the need for integrating wastewater reuse management with groundwater protection strategies to ensure safe irrigation practices and promote sustainable water-food-health linkages in peri-urban environments.