Heavy metals abundance and distribution in soil, groundwater and vegetables in parts of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India: implication for human health risk assessment

Anthropogenic activities impact the natural environment, leading to the deterioration of its suitability for living organisms and human health. The present study investigated the concentration and distribution of potentially harmful elements Fe, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Cd in the soil, groundwater and vegetables, and the consequent human health risk effects. Results revealed high content of Cu (mean = 331 mg kg(-1)) and Zn (mean = 348.4 mg kg(-1)) in the soils and exceeded permissible limits. Geo-accumulation Index (I-geo) values were high in respect of Cu (I-geo = 3.86, 3.16), and Zn (I-geo = 2.4, 1.6), indicating pollution in the industrial training institute (ITI) and Gular areas in Aligarh respectively. Groundwater from ITI and Gular recorded maximum content of Cr, Cu, Ni, Mn, Zn, Pb and Cd. Ni and Pb contents exceeded the highest permissible limits. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) with mean HPI = 806.08 indicated serious groundwater contamination in the ITI and Gular areas. Content of heavy metals in vegetables appeared to be under permissible limit with some exception for Ni and Zn. Finally, the assessment of hazard index (HI) indicated that there was no potential risk to human health upon consumption of vegetables, whereas water ingestion posed serious human health hazard (HI = 2.62) in parts of Aligarh.