AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Volume 7 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.3233/AJW-2010-7_4_13
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Assessment of Ecotoxicological Fate of Lead Pollution in Environment through Investigating Bio-concentration in Agro-based Products in Bangladesh

A.M.M. Maruf Hossain1* M. Shahidul Islam2 Md. Moklesur Rahman3 Md. Mustafa Mamu3 M. Azizul Islam Kazi2 Syed Fazle Elahi3
Show Less
1 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology 261 Cheomdan-gwangiro (Oryong-dong), Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-712, Republic of Korea
2 Analytical Research Division, BCSIR Laboratories, Dhaka - 1205, Bangladesh
3 Department of Soil, Water and Environment, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka, Dhaka -1000
AJWEP 2010, 7(4), 105–110; https://doi.org/10.3233/AJW-2010-7_4_13
Submitted: 11 March 2009 | Accepted: 27 November 2009 | Published: 1 January 2010
© 2010 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

Leaded gasoline has long been used as fuel for motor vehicles though the problem of lead pollution in Dhaka was identified only in 1980. Use of leaded gasoline has declined by most part though phasing out of leaded gasoline does not mean phase out of lead from the environment. Hence, fate of lead in polluted environment from various sources should get high priority in R & D programmes. The worst fate of lead in environment can be its entrance into food chain. To investigate bio-concentration of lead in agro-based products as an approach of assessing its ecotoxicological fate, commercially produced chicken eggs and liquid milks were selected as layer poultry feed and liquid milk production are directly dependent on feed crop production. Twelve eggs were sampled randomly each from Dhaka and its nearby seven districts covering the central region of Bangladesh. Thirteen kinds of liquid milks commercially produced by six prominent milk producers have been sampled with three replicates in each. Out of the 192 samples from 96 eggs, dry weight basis mean lead concentration was found to be 8.1611 ppm with a sample standard deviation of 0.5253, which is about 80 times higher than the maximum permissible limit, while the maximum detected value was found to be 34.5637 ppm. The mean concentration of lead in milks was found to be 1.5081 ppm with a sample standard deviation of 0.2177, which is some 75 times higher than maximum permissible limit in liquid milk. By consuming a single egg and 250 mL of commercially produced liquid milk in a day, a person is exposed to daily dietary exposure of some 99.9722 µg and 377.025 µg of lead, respectively excluding the other foods consumed.

Keywords
Lead pollution
lead bioconcentration
chemical food safety
public health
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
References

Akhter, S. (2000). Personal communication. Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Biswas, S.K., Tarafdar, S.A., Islam, A., Khaliquzzaman, M.,Tervahattu, H. and K. Kupiainen (2003). Impact of unleaded gasoline introduction on the concentration of lead in the<air of Dhaka, Bangladesh.JAir & Waste Manage Assoc,<53:1355-1362.

CDC(1991).Preventing lead poisoning in young children.<Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta,<GA.

FAO/WHO(2008).Codex general standard for contaminantsand toxins in foods.CODEX STAN 193-1995,Rev.4-2008Food andAgricultural Organization/World HealthOrganization,availablehttp://atwww.codexalimentarius.net/web/standard list.do? lang-en[accessed on March 4,2009]

Kaiser,R., Henderson,A.K., Daley, W.R., Naughton, M., Khan.M.H., Rahman,M.,Kieszak,S.and C.H. Rubin(2001)Blood lead levels of primary school children in Dhaka.Bangladesh.Environ Health Perspect, 109: 563-566.

Kebbekus,B.B.and S.Mitra(1998).Environmental chemicaanalysis.Blackie Academic &Professional. London.

Khaliquzzaman, M. and S.K. Biswas (1992). Monitoring ofheavy metal pollutants in air particulates in Bangladesh.<NAHRES-9, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna,<Austria.

Khaliquzzaman, M., Biswas, S.K., Tarafdar, S.A., Islam, A.<and A.H, Khan (1997).Trace element composition of size<fractionated airborne particulate matter in urban and rural.areas in Bangladesh.AECD/AFD-CH/6Ã48, Bangladesh.Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Khan, A.H., Khaliquzzaman, M., Zaman, M.B., Hussain, M.,<Abdullah,M. and S.Akhter (1980). Trace element<composition of blood in adult population in Bangladesh. ./Radioanal Chem,56:157-167.

 

Share
Back to top
Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing