Heavy Metal Accumulation in Selected Vegetables Irrigated with Untreated Sewage Water in Allahabad City

The present study was conducted to assess the heavy metal ( Cu, Cd, Pb, Ni) concentration of vegetables ( Spinach, Cucumber, Ladyfinger, Ridge guard) irrigated with waste water in around yamna river of Allahabad district. Lead was several fold higher in all vegetables irrigated with waste water in both sites (Mahewa Path and Arail Ghat), the study showed that the concentration of lead varied greatly in all vegetables (Table 1, 2). Spinach was having the higher average mean concentration of lead ( 18.764 mg/L), followed by Ladyfinger (15.227 mg/L), Ridge gourd (5.117 mg/L) and Cucumber (2.602 mg/L) and Cu (1.372 mg/L) was higher in spinach followed by cucumber (0.369 mg/L), Ladyfinger (0.182 mg/L) and Ridge gourd (0.170 mg/L), in site one (Mahewa path). The average mean concentration of Pb in Spinach, Cucumber, Ladyfinger and Ridge gourd were (4.333 mg/L), (5.079 mg/L), (10.407 mg/L) and (10.779 mg/L) respectively, in case of Cu Ridge gourd (0.269 mg/L) got the highest amount followed by Spinach (0.237 mg/L), Cucumber (0.227 mg/L) and Ladyfinger (0.218 mg/L) in Arail Ghat. The study suggests that wastewater irrigation led to accumulation of heavy metals in food stuff causing potential health risk to consumers.