Paper Details

Name: Vanita Chahal, Upma Arora, Jatinder Kaur Katnoria
Email: jkato8@yahoo.com
Country: India

Year: 2019
Volume: Volume-6, Issue-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9783905.v1

Soil is a three dimensional, dynamic natural body occurring on the surface of earth that provides all essential nutrients and mechanical anchorage to the growing plants. But, rapid industrialization, increasing population and inevitable use of xenobiotics have polluted the soil system. Contamination of soil is more prevalent in agricultural lands due to excessive use of agrochemicals like pesticides and inorganic fertilizers to obtain more crop yield. Upon entering the living systems via inhalation, ingestion and dermal contact, these chemicals cause a potential health risks. Considering the serious consequences of agricultural soil pollution on human health, the present study was planned to evaluate tumor inducing potential of agricultural soil samples collected from five different zones (Center, North, East, West and South) of Amritsar, Punjab (India) during cultivation of wheat and rice using potato disc tumor assay. It was found that SW-I soil sample induced maximum (24) tumors while Centre and North zone soil samplesinduced least number of tumors (3) during potato disc tumor assay. The present study clearly indicates the high risk to farmers as well as consumers if exposed to such polluted lands and consuming the contaminated crops.