Translocation and bioaccumulation of metals in Oryza sativa and Zea mays growing in chromite-asbestos contaminated agricultural fields, Jharkhand, India

Our plain-English summary of Translocation and bioaccumulation of metals in Oryza sativa and Zea mays growing in chromite-asbestos contaminated agricultural fields, Jharkhand, India, by A. Kumar, S.K. Maiti (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 2014).

The study

• Authors: A. Kumar, S.K. Maiti
• Journal: Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
• Published: 2014;93(4):434-41
• Cited by: 15 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The present study involves the assessment of metals (Cr, Ni, Pb and Cd) in contaminated agricultural soil (CAS) and abandoned chromite-asbestos waste (CW). High concentrations of Cr and Ni were found in CW (1,121-2,802 mg Cr kg(-1); 985-1,720 mg Ni kg(-1)), which CAS (1,058-1,242 mg Cr kg(-1); 1,002-1,295 mg Ni kg(-1)). Zea mays and Oryza sativa showed significant amounts of metals in root and aerial parts. The primary factors only consider the changes in metal concentrations in soil and plant, while dynamic factor includes both changes in metal concentration and environmental processes. In spite of the high concentration of Cr present in contaminated soils and crops, significant translocation of metals (>1) were found only for Pb and Ni, when primary factor was used. When dynamic factor was used, higher translocation (>1) and bioaccumulation (>1) were found for Cr along with Pb and Ni. The current study concludes that assessment of metal toxicity in CAS and crops could be better evaluated by using both primary and dynamic factors.

In plain English

This field study from Jharkhand, India, measured four metals (chromium, nickel, lead and cadmium) in soil and crops. It did not measure asbestos fibers. The authors sampled an abandoned chromite-asbestos mine waste dump at Roro hill (nine samples), a farm field below it that they described as contaminated by the waste (five samples), and a control farm field (five samples), along with rice and maize plants from both fields. Chromium in the contaminated field ranged from 1,058 to 1,242 mg/kg and nickel from 1,002 to 1,295 mg/kg. Both exceeded the European Community Commission safe values. Whole maize and rice plants from that field averaged 19.93 and 24.51 mg/kg chromium. Simple soil-to-plant ratios for chromium, nickel and lead were low in both crops. Ratios calculated relative to the control field ("dynamic" factors) were above 1 for chromium in both crops. The authors concluded that crops grown in these contaminated areas may transfer potentially toxic metals to humans or livestock.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Field sampling study comparing waste, contaminated farm soil, control farm soil, and crops grown on them
• Who was studied: Nine samples of abandoned chromite-asbestos mine waste; five samples each from a contaminated agricultural field (200 m down from the waste) and a control agricultural field (400 m away, behind a hillock); rice (Oryza sativa) and maize (Zea mays) plants from the two fields (n = 5 per table); Roro mines, Roroburu, Chaibasa, West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand, India. Sampling dates not given.
• Exposure: Chromium, nickel, lead and cadmium in soil and crops near an inactive chromite-asbestos mine where about 0.7 million tonnes of waste had been left over three decades. Asbestos fiber type and fiber levels were not studied.
• Main results:
  • In the contaminated agricultural soil, chromium ranged from 1,058 to 1,242 mg/kg and nickel from 1,002 to 1,295 mg/kg
  • Metals in the contaminated soil were higher than in the control soil. All metals in the control soil were within European Union limits. Compared with European Community Commission values, chromium and nickel exceeded the safe values.
  • In plants from the contaminated field, average whole-plant chromium was 19.93 mg/kg in maize and 24.51 mg/kg in rice. Average nickel was 16.17 mg/kg in maize and 13.30 mg/kg in rice.
  • Chromium and cadmium were higher in roots than in shoots in both crops
  • Using primary factors, the soil-to-plant bioaccumulation factors for chromium, nickel and lead were low in both crops on the contaminated soil. The primary root-to-shoot translocation factor for chromium was also low in both crops.
  • Using dynamic factors, translocation factors above 1 were found for chromium and lead in maize, and for chromium, lead and nickel in rice
  • Dynamic bioaccumulation factors above 1 were found for chromium in maize (4.27) and for cadmium, chromium and lead in rice (7.61, 3.55 and 1.30 in the table)
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the abandoned waste is polluting nearby fields, and that growing crops such as maize and rice in these contaminated areas may transfer potentially toxic metals to humans or livestock

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Translocation.

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