LAUSR

In order to evaluate the possible human health risk by phyto-accumulation of five heavy metals, viz. Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb and Ni, four Brassica species, namely B. campestris, B. juncea, B. napus and B. nigra, were grown under field conditions irrigated with 100% (undiluted) and 50% (diluted) wastewater (WW). The groundwater treatment was taken as control. WW irrigations (50% and 100%) were found to increase growth parameters (length, fresh biomass and dry biomass of shoot and root) and seed yield of all Brassica species. Calculated metal indices showed tolerance ability (tolerance index, TolI > 1) of all four Brassica species growing in both 50% and 100% WW-irrigated soil, but none of these could act as hyperaccumulator (bioconcentration factor, BCF < 1, and translocation index, TraI < 100%). Even though WW contained the permissible limit of phyto-elements, the input/addition of them into soil through irrigation caused the accumulation of most of the heavy metals in both leaf and seed parts of all Brassica crops far above the safety limit. Furthermore, the values of hazard quotient (HQ) for single metal (Pb) and total metals in all the crops were greater than 1 (HQ > 1), representing the human health at serious risk.