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Groundwater is one of the most important sources of water for drinking and cooking in rural India. A total of 382 groundwater samples were collected from 58 villages and analyzed for HMs and Sr by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The average concentrations of HMs and Sr in water was in the order of strontium (Sr) > arsenic (As) > chromium (Cr) > lead (Pb) > mercury (Hg) > cadmium (Cd). Out of 58 villages, 21, 37, 35, 35, 35 and 39 villages had Cr, As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Sr higher (WHO limit) than their respectively permissible levels. Health risk assessment of HMs and Sr for humans revealed that the non-carcinogenicity hazard quotients (HQ i+d ) for HMs and Sr were higher than unity for adult and children. The hazard index (HI) was 531.066 for adult and 902.926 for children. The HI > 1 was observed in 45 villages for adults and 56 villages for children. The lifetime cancer risk in adult for As i , As d , and Pb i in 36, 25 and 23 villages, whereas in children was 42, 20 and 22 villages, respectively. In conclusion, the health risks arising from consumption of groundwater containing HMs and Sr indicated that there is a significant carcinogenic risks for adult and children. This is the first attempt to provide information on the health risks of Sr in drinking water in India. The present findings can be useful for the development of potential strategies for risk control and management.

The fungus Fusarium verticillioides MRC 826 (ascomycetes species), a toxigenic isolate is capable of synthesizing mycoferritin only upon induction with iron in yeast extract sucrose medium. The molecular mass, yield, iron and carbohydrate contents of the purified mycoferritin were 460 kDa, 0.010 mg/g of wet mycelia, 1.0 and 40.2%, respectively. Native gel electrophoresis of the mycoferritin revealed two bands possibly representing isoforms of ferritin. Subunit analysis by SDS-PAGE showed a single protein subunit of ~24 kDa suggesting similar sized subunits in the structure of apoferritin shell. Immunological cross reactivity was observed with the anti-fish liver ferritin. Transmission electron microscopy revealed an apparent particle size of 100 Å. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of mycoferritin showed identities with other eukaryotic ferritin sequences. The spectral characteristics were similar to equine spleen ferritin. However, circular dichroic spectra revealed a higher degree of helicity. Functionally, induction of mycoferritin minimizes the prooxidant role of iron.