Characterization and risk assessment of arsenic contamination in soil-plant (vegetable) system and its mitigation through water harvesting and organic amendment.

Field experiments with vegetables [cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea)] were conducted at geogenically arsenic-contaminated Ghentugachi village in West Bengal, India, for two consecutive years to study arsenic accumulation by the selected vegetables and to explore the efficiencies of use of harvested/harnessed water and organic amendments (Mustard Cake, Vermicompost and Farm Yard Manure) in reducing arsenic load in soil-plant system. Results revealed that arsenic accumulations in the cauliflower head, spinach leaf and tomato fruit were in the range of 0.15-0.17, 2.73-3.00 and 0.08 mg kg. Organic amendment and pond water irrigation when applied either separately or together were found to be effective in reducing arsenic contamination in soil-plant system compared to irrigation with shallow tube well-drafted underground water. Vermicompost remained most successful among the organic amendments. Conjunctive use of surface (pond) and ground water also significantly reduced the level of arsenic in the system. The risk of dietary intake of arsenic through the selected vegetables was computed through % Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake, Hazard Quotient and Target Cancer Risk. Cauliflower and tomato were found safe in the individual contribution to food chain, while consumption of spinach leaf (possessing 10.4-22.6% more arsenic than maximum tolerable limits) remained unsafe in all dietary risk measures.