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It is widely believed that an increasing trend in the production and consumption of vegetables has led to a dramatic rise in the use of pesticides potentially threatening the health of consumers around the world. This systematic study along with meta-analysis has mainly centered on the evaluation of the quantity of three well-known pesticides namely, Malathion (MLT), Diazinon (DZN) and Chlorpyrifos (CPF) in vegetables. In this regard, a comprehensive literature search has been performed over the last decade (January 1, 2011 to June 21, 2020) within the scientific databases including PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Of 1239 articles identified through the database screening, 22 plus 37 data report were retained and included in the meta-analysis phase. Additionally, the probabilistic human health risks for the consumers due to the intake of CPF, DZN and MLT from eating vegetables were estimated by the Monte Carlo Simulated (MCS) method. According to the findings, the maximum quantities of MLT, DZN and CPF in the vegetables were observed in Pakistan (222 μg/kg, 95%CI = 214.94-229.08), Thailand (245.00, 95% CI = 235.2-254.8) and South Korea (440 μg/kg, 95% CI = 437.19-442.81), while the lowest concentration levels were reported in China (1.7 μg/kg, 95% CI = 1.56-1.84), Poland (0.57, 95% CI = 0.46-0.68) and Poland (5.78 μg/kg, 95% CI = 4.40-7.12), respectively. The results of the Egger's and the Begg's tests revealed that no bias with regard to the potential publication was observed. Finally, non-carcinogenic risk assessment results demonstrated that the exposure to the studied pesticides thorough vegetables consumption could not threaten the health of consumers., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the uptake and accumulation of heavy metals including cadmium, chromium, iron, nickel, and lead in 8 food crops irrigated with industrial wastewater and correlate the levels with potential human health risks. The concentrations of these metals in the food crops irrigated with wastewater decreased in the order iron (Fe) ˃ chromium (Cr) ˃ cadmium (Cd) ˃ nickel (Ni) ˃ lead (Pb). In all cases, the metallic contents in the vegetables exceeded the safe limits recommended by FAO/WHO. The highest bioaccumulation factor was recorded for cadmium. Further, the health risk indices of cadmium and lead were greater than 1 in seven food crops. For nickel, health risk was exceeded only for Pisum sativum and Solanum tuberosum. The indices for various food crops were in decreasing order: Cd > Pb > Ni > Cr > Fe. Out of 8 food crops, only Cantiquorum antiquorum showed risk indices lower than 1 for all 5 metals. Data demonstrated that food crops irrigated with wastewater in this study area are highly metal contaminated and may constitute a serious health risk to the local human and animal populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to investigate the concentrations of potential toxic metals (PTMs) in agricultural soil (n = 25) and their bioaccumulation in wheat crop (n = 25) collected from alongside the Kurram River, Pakistan. The highest concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in soil samples were 0.16, 19.5, 14.7, 46.5, 13.5, 14.5, 14.0, and 19.7 mg kg−1, respectively. In the edible tissues of cultivated wheat crop, the highest concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn were 0.15, 10.00, 8.75, 22.25, 11.00, 11.25, 10.50, and 7.50 mg kg−1, respectively. The selected PTM concentrations in soil samples were observed within their respective permissible limits set by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) China, while in wheat crops, the Cr and Pb concentrations were above the permissible limits of both FAO and SEPA China. The results showed that the orders of PTMs were Fe > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb > Mn in soil and Fe > Ni > Mn > Pb > Cr > Cu > Zn in wheat. The highest PTM concentrations were reported in the sample collected near dumping sites. The results of different soil pollution indices including geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and enrichment factor (EF) indicated that the soil of the study area was moderately to severely contaminated. The ADI values of wheat crops were less than 1, while the HQ varied among different PTMs with the highest value of 2.118 for Pb, and the lowest for Zn (0.007). The results indicated that anthropogenic intervention has made a substantial contribution to soil contamination with PTMs and subsequent uptake by wheat, which may exert potential human health risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational injuries and safety management at the workplace are among the crucial issues of the developing countries. This study develops index value trends of occupational injuries of internal migrant workers for different characteristics. It used twelve waves of the national representative dataset, Labour Force Survey (LFS), from 2001-02 to 2017-18 for the analysis. The research findings suggest that migrant workers in the labor markets of Pakistan face an ample burden of occupational injuries. Male migrants are more vulnerable to occupational injuries compared to their female counterparts. Similarly, those who migrate to rural areas are more likely to suffer from occupational injuries than those whose destination is urban. Higher education and on-job trainings are likely to reduce the burden of occupational injuries among internal migrants. The analysis calls for the development of synergies among worker's education, on-job training, and safety management at the workplace. This is the first study with an extensive dataset range to analyze the level and trends of occupational injuries and safety management of internal migrants in Pakistan. The study suggests the implementation of existing laws and legislation of new health policies to cope up with the challenges of occupational injuries of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]