Assessment of Heavy Metals in Vegetables, Sewage and Soil, Grown Near Babu Sabu Toll Plaza Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

The regular monitoring of toxic metals in sewage, effluents and vegetables is quite essential to avoid their excessive absorption/consumption in the food chain. The quantification of heavy metals in wastewater (sewage/industrial water), soil and vegetables grown in suburb area (Babu Sabu Toll Plaza) Lahore, Pakistan during 2015-16 have been investigated. These heavy metals include; Pb, Hg, Zn, Cu and Cd. For brief survey, 20, 20 and 90 samples of sewage water, soil and vegetable, respectively were collected for study. In wastewater, the concentration of heavy metals is observed as Zn > Cu > Cd > Pb, however, Hg was under detection limits. The measured values when compared with WHO standards, these were slightly higher than the safe limits. In soil samples, concentration was observed as Zn > Cu > Pb > Hg > Cd and is in the safe limits. The vegetables were found contaminated with heavy metals exhibiting concentration little higher than permissible limits of WHO/FAO.