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Irrigation of industrial effluents may end in the bioaccumulation of various toxic metals and consequent genetic changes in contaminated food crops. To test this hypothesis and extent of genetic modifications, Allium cepa test was performed to food crops viz. tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) and chili (Capsicum annum) as Allium cepa test is a useful tool to assess genetic variations in plants. Prior to A. cepa test, the plants were exposed to various metal concentrations 125–1000 mg/L in the synthetic wastewater. The extracts of harvested plants were used to grow the root of A. cepa following its standard method. The root tips were fixed, stained and examined under compound microscope (almost 300–400 dividing cells) to check the extent of chromosomal variations during various stages of mitosis. The results revealed various chromosomal abnormalities including laggards, stickiness, vagrant chromosomes, binucleated cells, nuclear lesions, giant cells and c-mitosis at different level of treatment. On the whole, aberrations were increasing with the increasing doses along the positive control. In comparison, chili crop had higher level of aberrations depicting the higher chromosomal changes. Lower mitotic index (MI) with increasing level of doses was also describing the hampered cell division due to increased metal stress. The study is showing that the cell division was ceased with increasing metal stress thus increasing the rate of cell aberrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 potential of Arundo donax L. for phytoextraction of cadmium (Cd) from contaminated soil and water was probed. The plants were grown under greenhouse conditions in pots containing a nutrient solution or soil with increasing doses of Cd (0, 50, 100, 250, 500, 750, and 1000 #956;g Lâ'1) for 21 days. The growth and physiology of plants were evaluated at the end of the experiment. The maximum Cd content in root was 300μg gâ'1 during hydroponics experiments over 230 μg gâ'1 in soil experiment. Cd concentration in stem was 262 μg gâ'1 at 750 μg Lâ'1 supplied Cd in hydroponics over 191.2 μg gâ'1 at 1000 in soil experiment. The maximum Cd concentration in leaves from hydroponics was 187 μg gâ'1. Relatively low Cd uptake occurred during soil experiment with low translocation factor (TF) values. Both Bioaccumulation Factor (BF) and TF values for hydroponics were greater than 1. The IC50 values of ABTS and DPPH showed that both time and increasing Cd concentrations affected the production of antioxidants with lower half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value on the 21st days. A. donax showed better potential for Cd remediation of aquatic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We, the Editors and Publisher of Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, have retracted the following article: Maria Sabeen, Qaisar Mahmood, Abdol Ghaffar Ebadi, Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhatti, Faridullah, Muhammad Irshad, Allauddin Kakar, Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz Muhammad Arshad and Naeem Shahid, 'Consequences of health risk assessment of wastewater irrigation in Pakistan Israel Affairs', Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, 2019, DOI: The article is retracted due to the oversights that were made during peer review process that resulted in the article being published online in error. Further review from independent reviewers was sought. This confirmed that the central findings and methodology of the study in question are unreliable and therefore unsuitable for publication. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as "Retracted". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]