Impact of Textile Wastewater on Whole Plants of Corchorous olitorius, Telfairia occidentalis, Celosia argentea and Amaranthus hybridus Cultivated within Farmlands in Ibeshe, Ikorodu, Lagos State.

Abstract

Soil contamination with heavy metal due to discharge of untreated or incompletely treated industrial effluent is a threat to the ecosystem and human well-being. The effect of textile waste effluent on four vegetable plants (Corchorous olitorius, Telfairia occidentalis, Celosia argentea and Amaranthus hybridus) cultivated within farmlands located along the Abuja River in Ibeshe town near Ikorodu, Lagos State was investigated. Their heavy metal levels were determined using atomic absorption spectrometer (Perkin Elmer, Analyst 200) after digestion with the appropriate mixture of triacids. In food crops grown with textile industry wastewater, the extent of heavy metal enrichment varied with individual plant in the order Zn>Mn>Fe>Ni>Cr>Pb>Cu>Cd for Corchorous olitorius, Zn>Fe>Mn>Ni>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd for Telfairia occidentalis, Zn>Fe>Ni>Mn>Cu>Cr>Pb>Cd for Celosia argentea and Zn>Fe>Ni>Mn>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd for Amaranthus hybridus while their respective control samples were in the order Zn>Mn>Fe>Ni>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd for Corchorous olitorius, Zn> Fe >Ni>Mn>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd for Telfairia occidentalis, Zn>Fe>Ni>Cu>Mn>Cr>Pb>Cd for Celosia argentea and Zn>Fe>Mn>Ni>Cr>Cu>Pb>Cd for Amaranthus hybridus. Continuous wastewater irrigation of the agricultural land has caused a significant buildup of heavy metals in wastewater irrigated soil compared with the well water irrigated soil. The present study revealed that wastewater irrigated soil, wastewater and food crops grown around the textile industry were enriched with Fe, Mn, Zn, Pb,  Ni, Cu, Cr and Cd. Long-term use of wastewater for irrigation purpose may lead to severe risk to consumers’ health as, this study has already shown a severe risk to human health by the four vegetables.  BCFs for Pb, Cu, Cr and Cd were <1 and >1 for Fe and Zn in both the original and control samples of the four plants. The control samples had BCFs <1for Mn and Ni while the original sample of Corchorous olitorius  had Mn >1  and Ni >1 for the original samples of Corchorous olitorius, Telfairia occidentalis and Celosia argentea. The investigation showed that the mean concentrations of some of the heavy metals analysed were not within the permissible limits for vegetables thus caution should be taken in consuming spontaneously growing vegetables.   Keywords: Vegetable plants, Textile effluents, Irrigation water, Heavy metals and BCF