HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IS A MAJOR RISK FOR HUMAN HEALTH AND FOOD SECURITY: A CASE STUDY OF WADI HANIFAH, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA  

Water and soil pollution due to discharge of untreated urban and industrial wastewater are major threat to ecological integrity and human well-being. The present study aimed to determine human health risks via food chain contamination of heavy metals routing from irrigation of urban and industrial wastewater. Water, soil and fishes were collected from a freshwater stream, Wadi Hanifah to analysis of heavy metal ions, transfer factor (TF), average daily intake of metals (EDI) and health risk index (HRI). The health risk assessment methods developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) were employed to explore the potential health hazards of heavy metals in water and soils. TF was lower for all metals except Co and HRI was found to be maximum for Tilapia and African catfish as well as the others posed a severe health risk with respect to Cd and Mn. Our results emphasized the need for pre-treatment of freshwater and routine monitoring in order to avoid contamination of fishes from the freshwater system.

^1*Corresponding author's Address: Department of Zoology, College of Science,

King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Tel: +966-46-97797, Fax: +966-46-78514; Mobile: +966-538078262

E-mail: mmortuza@ksu.edu.sa <mailto:mmortuza@ksu.edu.sa>; mortuzaksu@yahoo.com <mailto:mortuzaksu@yahoo.com>