Accumulation and health risk of heavy metals in sugarcane irrigated with industrial effluent in some rural areas of Uttarakhand, India

• Heavy metal contents in soils irrigated with industrial effluent were investigated.
• Soils showed high load of Cr, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn and Fe.
• Cr and Ni were many times higher in sugarcane than safe limits.
• EDI (mg−1 kg−1 day−1) was 2.1 × 10−1 in adults and 2.2 × 10−1 in children in this region.

This study presents the results of heavy metal analysis in soils and sugarcane being irrigated using paper mill industrial effluent. Sampling was done in a total of 10 rural areas of district Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand, India and level of chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), and magnesium (Mg) in soil and plant was then analyzed using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The concentrations (mg kg−1) of heavy metal in soils was 24.10–67.58, 0.01–0.28, 21.34–50.35, 0.63–72.0, 32.3–43.0, 202.2–209.6, 565.1–566.9, 0.23–12.90 in topsoil and 26.0–71.98, 0.01–0.26, 21.45–50.99, 28.38–68.76 31.62–40.21, 200.46–204.11, 565.08–566.95 and 0.01–1.30 in subsoil for Cr, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Mg, Fe and Pb, respectively. In the edible part of sugarcane concentration (mg kg−1) of Cr, Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn and Ni was 10.54–60.22, 3.56–22.38, 0.001–0.15, 0.01–1.11, 4.55–48.9, and 1.87–4.42, respectively. Cr and Ni content in sugarcane were higher than the guideline value of World health Organization (WHO)/Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Indian Standards (IS). The bioconcentration factor (BCF) was found in the ranges of 0.06 to 0.95 for all metals. The BCF trend for the present investigation was Mg > Cr > Cd > Fe > Pb > Cu > Zn > Ni. Sugarcane juice is consumed by rural people, thus the human health risk was measured using the concentration of total heavy metals in sugarcane juice using estimated daily intake (EDI) and total hazard quotient (THQ). The total EDI was 2.1 × 10−1 mg−1 kg−1 day−1 in adults and 2.2 × 10−1 mg−1 kg−1 day−1 in children in this region. THQ values were less than 1 (safe limit) but long-term consumption of contaminated sugarcane juice can create serious human health issues in this region. Results suggest anthropogenic load of heavy metal in cultivated lands of rural areas of this region.