Health assessment of heavy metals pollutions in some of imported and cultivated rice of Karoon River (Case study: Shadegan city)

Abstract

Heavy metals are one of the most important pollutants that enter the soil in various ways and thus reach agricultural crops. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of heavy metals in rice grown in farms of Karoon River (from Shadegan city) and to compare their risk assessment with Indian imported rices. To this end, four farms were studied in the village of Umme-Ghazlan (Ahvaz-Darkhovein), and the samples were taken during December 2017. Local soil and rice samples were collected from two points in each farm and three replications were used to determine the concentrations of heavy metals. A total of 24 cultivated rice samples together with 24 soil samples were obtained. Two samples of imported Indian rice, were also tested with 18 replications. The mean concentrations of heavy metals of lead, nickel, arsenic and cadmium in rice samples of downstream farms of Karoon River were 60.40, 28.05, 23.44 and 14.26 mg/Kg, respectively. The contamination levels in the case of imported rice samples were 57.77, 23.24, 15.79 and 9.76 mg/Kg dry weight, respectively. EDI values ​​of lead, cadmium, nickel and arsenic metals among the four tested farms were higher than imported rice. The highest index of EDI in imported rice was related to lead (90.70) and the lowest one was to cadmium (15.33). EDI values ​​of nickel and arsenic were in the second and third ranks. Among the farms, the lowest index of EDI (17.16) was related to cadmium (farm 1) and the highest level (98.31) was related to lead (farm 4). Based on the results, the risk of local rice samples were estimated higher than India's imported ones.

Keywords

• soil pollution
• risk assessment
• rice
• karoon river
• heavy metals