Th37 - Testing The Accumulation of Heavy Metal In Solanum melongena Using Inductively Coupled Plasma

In fifteen words or less, explain the significance of this contribution (Novel Aspect).: validated wavelength selection and dual-matrix analysis improve ICP-OES accuracy for soil to crop transfer studies

Abstract Text: Monitoring the elemental composition of food crops in agricultural production systems is essential for assessing potential health risks. An experiment was conducted in an uncontrolled environment having six soil amendments: vermicompost, inorganic fertilizer, sewage sludge (SS), organic fertilizer, chicken manure, horse manure. Each amendment was mixed with Biochar totaling 14 treatments including the native soil as a control to assess the heavy metal concentration of the soil and the plant fruits. This study utilized Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) to determine the concentrations of heavy metal elements in the soil and eggplant fruit samples collected from agricultural fields. Key elements analyzed included Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr. Wavelengths were chosen based on emission intensity and minimal spectral interference, validated through spectral analysis. Sample preparation followed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established digestion procedure using nitric acid. Quantitative comparisons between the soil and plant matrices revealed distinct elemental distribution patterns, with selective uptake evident for heavy metals. Cr, Ni, Cd showed bioaccumulation factor above > 1 indicating that the concentration of the heavy metals was more in the edible tissue as compared to the soil, while other elements such as Pb exhibited lower uptake ratios in soil amended with biochar, likely due to soil binding or plant exclusion mechanisms. Pb concentration in SS-biochar was high in the soil as compared to in the fruit grown in that soil (41.98 mg/kg to 13.53 mg/kg) whereas in Cr, Cd and Ni the heavy metal concentration in the fruit were higher than in the soil. Results were visualized using bar graphs to compare the concentrations and uptake factors, and representative spectra were included to demonstrate signal clarity at selected emission lines. These findings underscore the critical importance of wavelength optimization and matrix-specific method development in multi-elemental analysis. The study contributes to ongoing research in food safety, soil fertility and heavy metal bioavailability. It also demonstrates the critical role of proper wavelength selection in achieving accurate multi-element analysis using ICP-OES.
Keywords: ICP-OES, elemental uptake, bioaccumulation, heavy metals, wavelength selection.