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Varietal differences influence arsenic and lead contamination of rice grown in mining impacted agricultural fields of Zamfara State, Nigeria

Mandal, J; Bakare, WA; Rahman, M; Rahman, M; Siddique, A; Oku, E; Wood, M; Hutchinson, S; Mondal, D

Varietal differences influence arsenic and lead contamination of rice grown in mining impacted agricultural fields of Zamfara State, Nigeria Thumbnail


Authors

WA Bakare

M Rahman

M Rahman

A Siddique

E Oku

M Wood

S Hutchinson

D Mondal



Abstract

In Zamfara state, Nigeria, rice is cultivated in fields contaminated with Pb (lead) from artisanal and illicit mining activities. Rice grown in such contaminated agricultural areas risks not only Pb contamination but also contamination from other toxic elements, like arsenic (As); co-contamination of Pb and As in rice cultivated in mining impacted areas has been previously reported and rice is a hyperaccumulator of As. A field study was conducted with ten different commonly-cultivated Nigerian rice varieties in the mining-impacted farmlands of Dareta village, Zamfara State. The aim was to determine the optimal rice variety for cultivation on these contaminated farmlands; an optimal variety would have the lowest contaminant concentrations and highest essential elements concentrations in the rice grains. A total of 300 paired soil and rice plants were collected. The mean As and Pb concentrations in paddy soils were 0.91 ± 0.82 mg kg−1 and 288.5 ± 464.2 mg kg−1, respectively. Mean As (30.4 ± 15.1 μg kg−1) content in rice grains was an order of magnitude lower than the Codex recommendation of 200 μg kg−1 (for milled rice) while the Pb content in all the rice varieties (overall mean of 743 ± 327 μg kg−1) was approximately four times higher than the Codex recommendation of 200 μg kg−1. Contrary to previous studies, a negative correlation was observed between As and Pb in rice grains across all the varieties. Rice variety Bisalayi was the variety with the lowest Pb transfer factor (TF = 0.08), but the average Pb concentration in rice grain was still above the Codex recommendation. Bisalayi also had the highest TF for iron. Variety ART_15, which had the lowest As uptake (TF = 0.10), had the highest TF for essential elements (magnesium, potassium, manganese, zinc, and copper). In areas of Pb contamination, Bisalayi rice may therefore be a suitable variety to choose for cultivation.

Citation

Mandal, J., Bakare, W., Rahman, M., Rahman, M., Siddique, A., Oku, E., …Mondal, D. (2022). Varietal differences influence arsenic and lead contamination of rice grown in mining impacted agricultural fields of Zamfara State, Nigeria. Chemosphere, 305, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135339

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 11, 2022
Online Publication Date Jun 16, 2022
Publication Date Jun 23, 2022
Deposit Date Jul 25, 2022
Publicly Available Date Jul 25, 2022
Journal Chemosphere
Print ISSN 0045-6535
Publisher Elsevier
Volume 305
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135339
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135339