A New Source of Heavy Metal Contamination in Human Foods: Farm Products in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, India's Arid Ganga Plain

Abstract

Protecting the Ganga River from heavy metal contamination is essential for human health and the environment, as it is a key resource for millions of people. In crops produced on the dry Ganga plain in Unnao (located between 80°15′ and 80°34′E longitude and 26°24′ and 26°35′N latitude), the Micro-nutrients or heavy metals Chromium, Copper, Cadmium, Lead, Zinc, Manganese, and Iron are measured, a significant industrial city in North India, at three separate streams (upstream, midstream, and downstream). To determine whether sediment samples include Micro-nutrients & the associated health risks to people of commonly used micro-nutrients in the basin of River Ganga, the current study was conducted. Because AAS can accurately identify individuals and separate complicated combinations of substances, it is the method of choice for heavy metals analysis. Along the banks of the Ganga, Unnao is a major hub for leather processing, with over 450 tannery enterprises and other industries. One possible explanation for the large amount of micro-nutrients in the silt is that the soil disintegrated slowly, which reached 75–100% in 9–10 years. Crops had many times higher concentrations of micro-nutrients pollutants than the sandy soil. Since the public regularly eats these popular vegetables, these contaminants may be harmful to health. Eight separate locations provided soil samples, which were coded as Site A, Site B, Site C, Site D, Site E, Site F, Site G, and Site H, respectively. Each metal's mean value in the test samples varied from 5.23 to 92.40 mg/kg, whereas Cr's ranged from 20.5 to 27.7 mg/kg. 79.60–293.80 mg/kg of Cd and 1.20–5.00 mg/kg of Cu Zn, Mn (30.70–68.90 mg/kg), Fe (187.90–375.67 mg/kg), and Pb (382.70–500.40 mg/kg). Zn>Fe>Pb>Cu>Mn>Cr>Cd, as the trend indicates. The fact that all the metal values in the soil samples were noticeably greater than those in the blank samples implies that runoff and leaching are the main ways that metals move from industrial sites to residential areas.