Environmental and Health Impacts of Successive Mineral Fertilization in Egypt |
| |
| Authors: | Ahmed A Abdelhafez Hassan H Abbas Rafat S Abd‐El‐Aal Nabil F Kandil Jianhua Li Wahballah Mahmoud |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute (SWERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza, Egypt;2. Key Laboratory of Yangtze River Water Environment, Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, China;3. Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt;4. Center of Excellence of Biotechnology Research, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| |
| Abstract: | Excessive amounts of mineral fertilizers are unnecessarily applied to agricultural soils in Egypt to increase crop yield. The current study aims at assessing the impacts of fertilization with different mineral fertilizers for different cultivation periods on the accumulation of heavy metals in soils and plants grown thereon. In addition, human risks resulted due to the exposure to these metal ions through ingestion, and dermal routes were evaluated. Soil and plant samples were collected from several locations in El‐Behira Governorate, Egypt and their heavy metal contents were measured. The result indicated that there is a continuous accumulation of heavy metals in the soils and the plants grown thereon. Calculation of the hazard index (HI) revealed that humans, especially children, have a potential health risk for both Pb and Cd, which have levels greater than the safe level (1). Finally, the obtained results showed that the continuous application of mineral fertilizers containing high levels of heavy metals pose a potential health threat. |
| |
| Keywords: | Accumulation Fertilizer Heavy metals Risk assessment Soil |
|
|
