Page 75 - C:\Users\am_se\OneDrive - Higher Education Commission\Desktop\FlipBook\

International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/ETERM/14
Interaction of laundry detergent and arsenic on physiological attributes and ionic
uptake in Triticum aestivum L.

1*
1
1
Muhammad Wahaj Javed , Hafiz Muhammad Rashad Javeed , Abu Bakr Umer Farooq ,
1
1
2
Mazhar Ali , Samina Khalid , Muhammad Aqeel Sarwar
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus
2 Crop Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, Pakistan
Correspondence: rashadjaveed@cuivehari.edu.pk
Abstract
Wheat is one of the major cereal crops and is cultivated on thousands of hectares each year in
Pakistan. It has higher nutrition values therefore it is consumed as a staple food in developing
countries. Like all other living organisms, wheat is also facing the threat of environmental
pollution. Sewage water used for irrigation is one of the sources of contamination. Laundry
detergent is a major component of wastewater. Detergents are difficult to treat from wastewater
and eventually reached in agricultural water and affect the growth of wheat. High As
concentration in the environment can cause severe toxic effects and causes serious damage to
plants, animals, and humans. Even at a lower concentration, it is quickly taken up by plants
that result in alterations of physiological, structural, morphological, and biochemical
characteristics of the plant. Industrial and municipal wastewater which includes both Det and
As that affects the plant growth is utilized to irrigate the crops, especially in many developing
countries.

The accumulation of As in soil resulted in high As acquisition in different plant tissues (root,
shoot, leaves, and grains). The addition of detergent significantly decreased the uptake and
accumulation of As in the wheat crop. The higher levels of Det significantly decreased As
accumulation in plant tissues and the results were pronounced at higher levels of Det as
compared to low levels corresponding to respective As treatments. The order of As
accumulation in different plant tissues remained root > leaves > shoot > seed. In this study, the
reduction in pigment content was observed when exposed to varying levels of As. The
application of Det did not show any significant difference in plant chlorophyll contents at As-
0. A high reduction was observed in plants treated with Det-50 with various As treatments as
compared to other Det treatments. The application of higher levels of Det remarkably mitigates
the stress response of As and non-significantly increased plant pigment contents as compared
to As alone.
Keywords: Arsenic; Detergent; Triticum aestivum L

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

42