Microbial, Metal Composition and Health Risk of Selected Vegetables Irrigated with Different Water Sources in South Africa

Microbial, Metal Composition and Health Risk of Selected Vegetables Irrigated with Different Water Sources in South Africa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Microbial, Metal Composition and Health Risk of Selected Vegetables Irrigated with Different Water Sources in South Africa Adeyemi Ojutalayo Adeeyo, Oluwafemi Oladipupo KOLAJO, Mufamadi Thabelo, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6775342/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Global water scarcity informed by the population explosion is championing the need to adopt wastewater in the practice of smallholder farmers producing vegetables. While the availability and the nutrient composition of the wastewater can be appealing, the resulting consequence may be fatal. The study employed standard laboratory procedures to evaluate the physicochemical, microbial and trace element parameters of irrigated plant samples. Irrigating with pond water resulted in an E. coli value of 2000 cfu/100mL which is higher than the upper permissible level for wastewater (1000 cfu/100mL). The water quality index of 4479.49 showed that the wastewater is not fit for irrigation purposes. Arsenic (As), Lead (Pb) and Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) were found to be within permissible levels with human health risk assessment less than 1 at P > 0.05 and the metal pollution index less than 100. The observation presented the need for treatment solutions to handle microbiological components for wastewater in the study area to reduce the risk of consumption of farm produce contaminated with microbial and metal pollutants of concerns with health risk concerns. Trace elements wastewater irrigation microbial parameters human health risk assessment metal pollution index water quality index Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Aug, 2025 Editor invited by journal 18 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 09 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 05 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6775342","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":498813264,"identity":"760c2e52-cfda-4ed1-9a4a-5ef1b66e5b33","order_by":0,"name":"Adeyemi Ojutalayo Adeeyo","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA60lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACAzDJD8QHSNMi2UCyFgOi1fOzH9744GObnZzxjdyDB3/UMMjzN7A//IBPi2RPWrHhzLZkY7MbeQmHeY4xGM44wJAsgddVB3LMpHnbmBO33cgxOMzAxsC4AegnvFrsz78x//23rT5x84wcg4M//jHYb2BgbP6B1xaJHDNmxrbDiRskcgwO8LYxJG5gYGbDa4vEjWfFkj3njhtLnHljcJi3TyJ5xmE2Ngt8Wvj7kzd++FFWLcffnmP88cc3G9v+9vbHN/BpAQNGNoStDAzMBNWDwB+iVI2CUTAKRsFIBQBuUUnG8/A1sAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6940-6955","institution":"University of South Africa - 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