Abstract
Freshwater shortage and its contamination with various types of pollutants are becoming the most alarming issues worldwide due to impacts on socioeconomic values. Considering an increasing freshwater scarcity, it is imperative for the growers, particularly in semiarid and arid areas, to use wastewater for crop production. Wastewaters generally contain numerous essential inorganic and organic nutrients which are considered necessary for plant metabolism. Besides, this practice provokes various hygienic, ecological and health concerns due to the occurrence of toxic substances such as heavy metals. Pakistan nowadays faces a severe freshwater scarcity. Consequently, untreated wastewater is used routinely in the agriculture sector. In this review, we have highlighted the negative and positive affectivity of wastewater on the chemical characteristics of the soil. This review critically delineates toxic metal accumulation in soil and their possible soil–plant–human transfer. We have also estimated and deliberated possible health hazards linked with the utilization of untreated city waste effluents for the cultivation of food/vegetable crops. Moreover, we carried out a multivariate analysis of data (144 studies of wastewater crop irrigation in Pakistan) to trace out common trends in published data. We have also compared the limit values of toxic metals in irrigation water, soil and plants. Furthermore, some viable solutions and future viewpoints are anticipated taking into account the on-ground situation in Pakistan—such as planning and sanitary matters, remedial/management technologies, awareness among local habitants (especially farmers) and the role of the government, NGOs and pertinent stakeholders. The data are supported by 13 tables and 7 figures.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahamad, A., Raju, N. J., Madhav, S., & Khan, A. H. (2020). Trace elements contamination in groundwater and associated human health risk in the industrial region of southern Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Environmental Geochemistry and Health.
Ahmad, K., Wajid, K., Khan, Z. I., Ugulu, I., Memoona, H., Sana, M., et al. (2019). Evaluation of potential toxic metals accumulation in wheat irrigated with wastewater. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 102(6), 822–828.
Ali, N., Khan, S., & ur Rahman, I., & Muhammad, S., (2018). Human health risk assessment through consumption of organophosphate pesticide-contaminated water of Peshawar Basin, Pakistan. Exposure and Health, 10(4), 259–272.
Alia, N., Sardar, K., Said, M., Salma, K., Sadia, A., Sadaf, S., et al. (2015). Toxicity and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in spinach (Spinacia oleracea) grown in a controlled environment. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(7), 7400–7416.
Amerasinghe, P., Bhardwaj, R. M., Scott, C., Jella, K., & Marshall, F. (2013). Urban wastewater and agricultural reuse challenges in India (Vol. 147). Delhi: IWMI.
Amin, N., Ibrar, D., & Alam, S. (2014). Heavy metals accumulation in soil irrigated with industrial effluents of Gadoon Industrial Estate, Pakistan and its comparison with fresh water irrigated soil. Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment, 3(02), 80.
Anwar, S., Nawaz, M. F., Gul, S., Rizwan, M., Ali, S., Kareem, A. J. E. M., et al. (2016). Uptake and distribution of minerals and heavy metals in commonly grown leafy vegetable species irrigated with sewage water. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188, 541.
Aziz, F., & Farissi, M. (2014). Reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture: solving water deficit problems in arid areas. Annales of West University of Timisoara. Series of Biology, 17(2), 95.
Bakht, J., Khan, L., & Shafi, M. (2016). Phytoaccumulation of Heavy metals and protein expression by different vegetables collected from various parts of Khyber Pukhtunkhawa Province, Pakistan. Sains Malaysiana, 45(2), 167–176.
Batool, A., & Saleh, T. A. (2020). Removal of toxic metals from wastewater in constructed wetlands as a green technology; catalyst role of substrates and chelators. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 189, 109924.
Bech, J. (2020). Soil contamination and human health: Part 2. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42(8), 2287–2292.
Carvalho, F. L. d. (2018). Water as a polemological factor. https://bdex.eb.mil.br/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2828/1/MO%200022%20-%20FABIANO.pdf.
Castro, E., Mañas, P., & De Las Heras, J. (2013). Effects of wastewater irrigation in soil properties and horticultural crop (Lactuca sativa L). Journal of Plant Nutrition, 36(11), 1659–1677.
Cecchi, M., Dumat, C., Alric, A., Felix-Faure, B., Pradère, P., & Guiresse, M. (2008). Multi-metal contamination of a calcic cambisol by fallout from a lead-recycling plant. Geoderma, 144(1), 287–298.
Connor, R. (2015). The United Nations world water development report 2015: Water for a sustainable world (Vol. 7). New York: UNESCO Publishing.
Connor, R., Renata, A., Ortigara, C., Koncagül, E., Uhlenbrook, S., Lamizana-Diallo, B. M., et al. (2017). The united nations world water development report 2017. Wastewater: The untapped resource. The United Nations World Water Development Report. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247153.
Ensink, J. H., Mahmood, T., van der Hoek, W., Raschid-Sally, L., & Amerasinghe, F. P. (2004). A nationwide assessment of wastewater use in Pakistan: An obscure activity or a vitally important one? Water Policy, 6(3), 197–206.
FAO (2017). AquaStat, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. https://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/data/query/results.html. Accessed January 22, 2018.
Faryal, R., Tahir, F., & Hameed, A. (2007). Effect of wastewater irrigation on soil along with its micro and macro flora. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 39(1), 193.
Fine, P., & Hadas, E. (2012). Options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions during wastewater treatment for agricultural use. Science of the Total Environment, 416, 289–299.
Foucault, Y., Lévêque, T., Xiong, T., Schreck, E., Austruy, A., Shahid, M., et al. (2013). Green manure plants for remediation of soils polluted by metals and metalloids: Ecotoxicity and human bioavailability assessment. Chemosphere, 93(7), 1430–1435.
Gyampo, M. A. (2012). Wastewater production, treatment, and use in Ghana. In Third regional workshop of the project ‘safe use of wastewater in agriculture (pp. 26–28).
Hamid, A., Mushtaq, A., Nazir, R., & Asghar, S. (2017). Heavy metals in soil and vegetables grown with municipal wastewater in Lahore. Bangladesh Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research, 52(4), 331–336.
Hamid, A., Riaz, H., Akhtar, S., & Ahmad, S. R. (2016). Heavy metal contamination in vegetables, soil and water and potential health risk assessment. American Eurasian Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 16, 786–794.
Hussain, Z. (2018). Pakistan likely to face water crisis. Dawn, https://www.dawn.com/news/1398034.
Iqbal, M. M., Shoaib, M., Agwanda, P., & Lee, J. L. (2018). Modeling approach for water-quality management to control pollution concentration: A case study of Ravi River, Punjab, Pakistan. Water, 10(8), 1068.
Islam, S. M. F., & Karim, Z. (2019). World’s demand for food and water: The consequences of climate change. InDesalination-challenges and opportunities. London: IntechOpen.
Jan, F. A., Ishaq, M., Khan, S., Ihsanullah, I., Ahmad, I., & Shakirullah, M. (2010). A comparative study of human health risks via consumption of food crops grown on wastewater irrigated soil (Peshawar) and relatively clean water irrigated soil (lower Dir). Journal of Hazardous Materials, 179(1), 612–621.
Kanwal, S., Sajjad, M., Gabriel, H. F., & Hussain, E. (2020). Towards sustainable wastewater management: A spatial multi-criteria framework to site the Land-FILTER system in a complex urban environment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 266, 121987.
Keraita, B., & Drechsel, P. (2004). Agricultural use of untreated urban wastewater in Ghana. Wastewater use in irrigated agriculture: Confronting the livelihood and environmental realities (pp. 101–112). Wallingford, UK: CABI Publishing.
Khalid, S., Naseer, A., Shahid, M., Shah, G., Ullah, M., Waqar, A., et al. (2018a). Assessment of nutritional loss with food waste and factors governing this waste at household level. Journal of Cleaner Production. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.138.
Khalid, S., Shahid, M., Murtaza, B., Bibi, I., Natasha, Naeem, M. A., et al. (2020a). A critical review of different factors governing the fate of pesticides in soil under biochar application. Science of the Total Environment, 711, 134645.
Khalid, S., Shahid, M., Dumat, C., Niazi, N. K., Bibi, I., Gul Bakhat, H. F. S., et al. (2017). Influence of groundwater and wastewater irrigation on lead accumulation in soil and vegetables: Implications for health risk assessment and phytoremediation. International Journal of Phytoremediation, 19(11), 1037–1046.
Khalid, S., Shahid, M., Natasha, Shah, A. H., Saeed, F., Ali, M., et al. (2020b). Heavy metal contamination and exposure risk assessment via drinking groundwater in Vehari, Pakistan. Environmental Science and Pollution Research.
Khalid, S., Shahid, M., Natasha, I. B., Sarwar, T., Shah, A. H., & Niazi, N. K. (2018). A review of environmental contamination and health risk assessment of wastewater use for crop irrigation with a focus on low and high-income countries. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(5(895)), 1–36.
Khalid, S., Shahid, M., Niazi, N. K., Murtaza, B., Bibi, I., & Dumat, C. (2017). A comparison of technologies for remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 182, 247–268.
Khan, A. H. A., Nawaz, I., Yousaf, S., Cheema, A. S., & Iqbal, M. (2019). Soil amendments enhanced the growth of Nicotiana alata L. and Petunia hydrida L. by stabilizing heavy metals from wastewater. Journal of Environmental Management, 242, 46–55.
Khan, M. U., Malik, R. N., & Muhammad, S. (2013). Human health risk from heavy metal via food crops consumption with wastewater irrigation practices in Pakistan. Chemosphere, 93(10), 2230–2238.
Khan, Z. I., Ahmad, K., Batool, F., Wajid, K., Mehmood, N., Ashfaq, A., et al. (2019). Evaluation of toxic potential of metals in wheat crop grown in wastewater-contaminated soil in Punjab, Pakistan. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26, 1–9.
Li, Q., Tang, J., Wang, T., Wu, D., Jiao, R., & Ren, X. (2017). Impacts of sewage irrigation on soil properties of farmland in China: A review. Yellow River, 4, 5.
Mateo-Sagasta, J., Raschid-Sally, L., & Thebo, A. (2015). Global wastewater and sludge production, treatment and use. Wastewater (pp. 15–38). New York: Springer.
Mehmood, A., Mirza, M. A., Choudhary, M. A., Kim, K.-H., Raza, W., Raza, N., et al. (2019). Spatial distribution of heavy metals in crops in a wastewater irrigated zone and health risk assessment. Environmental Research, 168, 382–388.
Mirza, M. M. Q., & Ahmad, Q. K. (2005). Climate change and water resources in South Asia. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Mok, H. F., & Hamilton, A. J. (2014). Exposure factors for wastewater-irrigated Asian vegetables and a probabilistic rotavirus disease burden model for their consumption. Risk Analysis, 34(4), 602–613.
Mubeen, A., Shakoor, A., & Saleem, M. F. (2015). Water crisis – impacts and management in Pakistan. Technology Times, https://www.technologytimes.pk/water-crisis-impacts-and-management-in-pakistan/.
Murtaza, B., Natasha, Amjad, M., Shahid, M., Imran, M., Shah, N. S., et al. (2020). Compositional and health risk assessment of drinking water from health facilities of District Vehari, Pakistan. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42(8), 2425–2437.
Murtaza, G., Ghafoor, A., & Qadir, M. (2008). Accumulation and implications of cadmium, cobalt and manganese in soils and vegetables irrigated with city effluent. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 88(1), 100–107.
Murtaza, G., Ghafoor, A., Qadir, M., Owens, G., Aziz, M., & Zia, M. (2010). Disposal and use of sewage on agricultural lands in Pakistan: A review. Pedosphere, 20(1), 23–34.
Murtaza, G., Zia-ur-Rehman, M., Rashid, I., & Qadir, M. (2019). Use of poor-quality water for agricultural production. Research developments in saline agriculture (pp. 769–783). New York: Springer.
Murtaza, G., & Zia, M. H. Wastewater production, treatment and use in Pakistan. In Second regional workshop of the project ‘safe use of wastewater in agriculture, 2012 (pp. 16–18)
Mushtaq, N., & Khan, K. S. (2010). Heavy metals contamination of soils in response to wastewater irrigation in Rawalpindi region. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Science, 47(3), 215–224.
Natasha, Shahid, M., Dumat, C., Khalid, S., Rabbani, F., Farooq, A. B. U., et al. (2018). Foliar uptake of arsenic nanoparticles by spinach: an assessment of physiological and human health risk implications. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 26, 20121–20131.
Natasha, SShahid, M., Farooq, A. B. U., Rabbani, F., Khalid, S., & Dumat, C., (2020). Risk assessment and biophysiochemical responses of spinach to foliar application of lead oxide nanoparticles: A multivariate analysis. Chemosphere, 245, 125605.
Natasha, Shahid, M., Khalid, S., Bibi, I., Bundschuh, J., Niazi, N., et al. (2020b). A critical review of mercury speciation, bioavailability, toxicity and detoxification in soil-plant environment: Ecotoxicology and health risk assessment. Science of the Total Environment, 711, 134749.
Natasha, Shahid, M., Khalid, S., Dumat, C., Pierart, A., & Niazi, N. K. (2019). Biogeochemistry of antimony in soil-plant system: Ecotoxicology and human health. Applied Geochemistry.
Natasha, Shahid, M., Niazi, N. K., Khalid, S., Murtaza, B., Bibi, I., et al. (2018). A critical review of selenium biogeochemical behavior in soil-plant system with an inference to human health. Environmental Pollution, 234, 915–934.
Natasha, Shahid, M., Sardar, A., Anwar, H., Khalid, S., Shah, S. H., et al. (2020c). Effect of co-application of wastewater and freshwater on the physiological properties and trace elements content in Raphanus sativus: Soil contamination and human health. Environmental Geochemistry and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00635-x.
Onakpa, M. M., Njan, A. A., & Kalu, O. C. (2018). A review of heavy metal contamination of food crops in Nigeria. Annals of Global Health, 84(3), 488–494.
Pakistantoday (2018). Per capita water availability in Pakistan comes to dangerously low level. Pakistan Todat, https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/03/22/per-capita-water-availability-in-pakistan-comes-to-dangerously-low-level/.
Pérez-Lucas, G., Vela, N., El Aatik, A., & Navarro, S. (2018). Environmental risk of groundwater pollution by pesticide leaching through the soil profile. InPesticides, anthropogenic activities and the health of our environment. London: IntechOpen.
Pourrut, B., Shahid, M., Dumat, C., Winterton, P., & Pinelli, E. (2011). Lead uptake, toxicity, and detoxification in plants. Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology (Vol. 213, pp. 113–136). New Yor: Springer.
Prasad, R., & Karchiyappan, T. (2018). Advanced research in nanosciences for water technology. New York: Springer.
Qadir, M., Ghafoor, A., Murtaza, G., & Murtaza, G. (2000). Cadmium concentration in vegetables grown on urban soils irrigated with untreated municipal sewage. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 2(1), 13–21.
Qadir, M., Wichelns, D., Raschid-Sally, L., McCornick, P. G., Drechsel, P., Bahri, A., et al. (2010). The challenges of wastewater irrigation in developing countries. Agricultural Water Management, 97(4), 561–568.
Rafiq, M., Shahid, M., Abbas, G., Shamshad, S., Khalid, S., Niazi, N. K., et al. (2017). Comparative effect of calcium and EDTA on arsenic uptake and physiological attributes of Pisum sativum. International Journal of Phytoremediation, 19(7), 662–669.
Raja, S., Cheema, H. M. N., Babar, S., Khan, A. A., Murtaza, G., & Aslam, U. (2015). Socio-economic background of wastewater irrigation and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in crops and vegetables. Agricultural Water Management, 158, 26–34.
Rehman, K. U., Bukhari, S. M., Andleeb, S., Mahmood, A., Erinle, K. O., Naeem, M. M., et al. (2019). Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in vegetables irrigated with groundwater and wastewater: The particular case of Sahiwal district in Pakistan. Agricultural Water Management, 226, 105816.
Rezapour, S., Atashpaz, B., Moghaddam, S. S., & Damalas, C. A. (2019). Heavy metal bioavailability and accumulation in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) irrigated with treated wastewater in calcareous soils. Science of the Total Environment, 656, 261–269.
Riaz, U., Murtaza, G., Saifullah, Farooq, M., Aziz, H., Qadir, A. A., et al. (2020). Chemical fractionation and risk assessment of trace elements in sewage sludge generated from various states of Pakistan. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07795-4.
Sardar, A., Shahid, M., Natasha, Khalid, S., Anwar, H., Tahir, M., et al. (2020). Risk assessment of heavy metal(loid)s via Spinacia oleracea ingestion after sewage water irrigation practices in Vehari District. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09917-4.
Sarwar, T., Shahid, M., Natasha, Khalid, S., Shah, A. H., Ahmad, N., et al. (2019). Quantification and risk assessment of heavy metal build-up in soil–plant system after irrigation with untreated city wastewater in Vehari. Pakistan: Environmental Geochemistry and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00358-8.
Sasmaz, M., Uslu Senel, G., & Obek, E. (2020). Strontium accumulation by the terrestrial and aquatic plants affected by mining and municipal wastewaters (Elazig, Turkey). Environmental Geochemistry and Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00629-9.
Shabbir, Z., Sardar, A., Shabbir, A., Abbas, G., Shamshad, S., Khalid, S., et al. (2020). Copper uptake, essentiality, toxicity, detoxification and risk assessment in soil-plant environment. Chemosphere, 259, 127436.
Shah, A. H., Shahid, M., Khalid, S., Shabbir, Z., Bakhat, H. F., Murtaza, B., et al. (2020). Assessment of arsenic exposure by drinking well water and associated carcinogenic risk in peri-urban areas of Vehari, Pakistan. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 42, 121–133.
Shah, S. I. A., Zhou, J., & Shah, A. A. (2019). Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) practices in smallholder agriculture; emerging evidence from rural Pakistan. Journal of Cleaner Production, 218, 673–684.
Shahid, M., Dumat, C., Khalid, S., Schreck, E., Xiong, T., & Niazi, N. K. (2017). Foliar heavy metal uptake, toxicity and detoxification in plants: A comparison of foliar and root metal uptake. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 325, 36–58.
Shahid, M., Nadeem, M., & Bakhat, H. F. (2020c). Environmental toxicology and associated human health risks. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10516-6.
Shahid, M., Natasha, Dumat, C., Niazi, N., Xiong, T., Farooq, A., et al. (2020a). Ecotoxicology of heavy metal(loid) enriched particulate matter: Foliar accumulation by plants and health impacts. Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
Shahid, M., Niazi, N. K., Dumat, C., Naidu, R., Khalid, S., Rahman, M. M., et al. (2018a). A meta-analysis of the distribution, sources and health risks of arsenic-contaminated groundwater in Pakistan. Environmental pollution.
Shahid, M., Niazi, N. K., Rinklebe, J., Bundschuh, J., Dumat, C., & Pinelli, E. (2020b). Trace elements-induced phytohormesis: A critical review and mechanistic interpretation. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology.
Shahid, M., Pinelli, E., & Dumat, C. (2012). Review of Pb availability and toxicity to plants in relation with metal speciation; role of synthetic and natural organic ligands. Journal of hazardous materials, 219, 1–12.
Shahid, M., Pinelli, E., & Dumat, C. (2018). Tracing trends in plant physiology and biochemistry: Need of databases from genetic to kingdom level. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 127, 630–635.
Shahid, M., Pinelli, E., Pourrut, B., Silvestre, J., & Dumat, C. (2011). Lead-induced genotoxicity to Vicia faba L. roots in relation with metal cell uptake and initial speciation. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 74(1), 78–84.
Shahid, M., Pourrut, B., Dumat, C., Nadeem, M., Aslam, M., & Pinelli, E. (2014). Heavy-metal-induced reactive oxygen species: phytotoxicity and physicochemical changes in plants. In Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology (Vol. 232, pp. 1–44). New York: Springer.
Shams, S. (2017). Water scarcity in Pakistan—A bigger threat than terrorism. DW,https://www.dw.com/en/water-scarcity-in-pakistan-a-bigger-threat-than-terrorism/a-37444480.
Sial, R., Chaudhary, M., Abbas, S., Latif, M., & Khan, A. (2006). Quality of effluents from Hattar industrial estate. Journal of Zhejiang University-Science B, 7(12), 974–980.
Solomon, S. (2019). Understanding the impacts of climate change on water access and the lives of women in Tharparkar District, Sindh Province, Pakistan: A literature review, 1990–2018. http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/61827.
Thebo, A. L., Drechsel, P., Lambin, E., & Nelson, K. (2017). A global, spatially-explicit assessment of irrigated croplands influenced by urban wastewater flows. Environmental Research Letters, 12(7), 074008.
Ullah, R., Malik, R. N., & Qadir, A. (2009). Assessment of groundwater contamination in an industrial city, Sialkot, Pakistan. African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 3(12), 429.
UNESCO (2017). World Water Assessment Programme . The United Nations world water development report 2017: Wastewater: The untapped resource; facts and figures.
Wang, G.-L., & Lin, W.-J. (2003). Contamination of soil from sewage irrigation and its remediation. Journal of Agro-Environment Science, 22(2), 163–166.
WB-SCEA (2006). Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment. Report No 36946.World Bank report, 2008.
White, I., & Howe, J. (2004). The mismanagement of surface water. Applied Geography, 24(4), 261–280.
Wichelns, D. (2017). Volumetric water footprints, applied in a global context, do not provide insight regarding water scarcity or water quality degradation. Ecological Indicators, 74, 420–426.
WTO (2011). World Trade Organization. Agriculture.
WWF-Pakistan,. (2007). Pakistan’s water at risk, water and health related issues and key recommendations. Communications Division, WWF Pakistan: Freshwater & Toxics Programme.
Zhang, Y., & Shen, Y. (2017). Wastewater irrigation: past, present, and future. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water.
Zheng, J., & Kamal, M. A. (2020). The effect of household income on residential wastewater output: Evidence from urban China. Utilities Policy, 63, 101000.
Acknowledgements
Dr Muhammad Shahid acknowledges the financial support from the HEC, Islamabad, Pakistan, for sponsorship (20-4423/R&D/HEC/14/980).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Natasha, Shahid, M., Khalid, S. et al. A critical analysis of wastewater use in agriculture and associated health risks in Pakistan. Environ Geochem Health 45, 5599–5618 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00702-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00702-3