Toxicity and Bioaccumulation of Lead and Nickel in Spinach

Increasing the heavy metal toxicity due to use of poor quality natural resources i.e., soil and water contaminate the food chain and ultimately affect human and animal health. In this modern era, the use of various heavy metal containing industrial effluents for the cultivation of crops specially vegetable production in peri-urban areas is somewhat unavoidable contaminates, but this food stuff due to heavy metal present in effluent. In this study, it was found that increasing the Pb metals in soil through effluent reduced the growth of root and shoot. Increasing the concentration of Pb and Ni in soil enhanced the respective metal concentration inthe plant parts. The increasing concentration of Ni in soil antagonistically affected the Pb uptake pattern in spinach crop. Increasing the concentration of Ni in effluent reduced the chances of Pb metal in plant part or counters the toxicity effect on soil microbes. This study can be of help during the investigation of the multi-metal investigation and their effect on crop yield & quality.