Growth and Metal Uptake Dynamics of Brassica juncea in Cadmium and Arsenic Contaminated Soil Irrigated with Industrial Effluent

Environmental Sciences | Research article | https://doi.org/10.47262/SL/14.1.132026110

Growth and Metal Uptake Dynamics of Brassica juncea in Cadmium and Arsenic Contaminated Soil Irrigated with Industrial Effluent

Nafisa Latif¹, Beenish Nisar², Waqar Ahmad²*, Adnan Husain²

¹Department of Environmental Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

²Department of Environmental Science, Federal Urdu University, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Brassica juncea (B. juncea) is widely recognized for its potential in phytoremediation, yet the combined effects of cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) in soil and irrigation water on its growth and metal uptake remain insufficiently explored. This study investigated the germination, growth performance, and Cd-As accumulation of B. juncea grown under four combinations of clean and contaminated soil and water using a completely randomized pot experiment. Treatments comprised: control soil with clean water (T1), contaminated soil with clean water (T2), control soil with industrial effluent (T3), and contaminated soil with industrial effluent (T4). Physicochemical characterization confirmed substantially elevated Cd and As levels in industrial soil and wastewater compared with control soil and tap water. Germination percentage decreased from 96% in T1 to 68% in T4, with intermediate reductions in T2 and T3, indicating that both soil and water-borne metals impair seed viability, and their combination exerts the strongest inhibition. Growth traits, including leaf number, plant height, root length, and shoot length, followed the same declining trend from T1 to T4, reflecting pronounced metal-induced stress under dual contamination. Plants grown in contaminated treatments accumulated significantly higher Cd and As concentrations in their tissues than the control, with maximum accumulation under T4, confirming efficient metal uptake under polluted conditions. Overall, the findings demonstrate that while Cd- and As-rich industrial effluents severely reduce the growth and vigor of B. juncea, the species maintains sufficient tolerance and uptake capacity to be considered a promising candidate for phytoremediation of industrially contaminated soils and wastewater-irrigated sites.