Alleviating Cadmium Toxicity in Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) and Human Health Risk Analysis: Contrasting Effects of Gypsum, Farm Manure and Poultry Manure

Vegetables are vital dietary components and cadmium (Cd) contamination in vegetables is a major concern, with little understanding of the potential moderating effects of gypsum (GYP) and other organic amendments including farm manure (FM) and poultry manure (PM). A pot trial was conducted to assess the health risk associated with brinjal ingestion grown on Cd-contaminated soil influenced by industrial effluents. The treatments as control, contaminated soil, contaminated soil + poultry manure, contaminated soil + farm manure, contaminated soil + gypsum. The amendments PM, FM and GYP resulted in significant increases in plant height (33.4%, 29.5% and 26.7%) and fruit weight (21.5%, 24.1% and 14.9%), as well as physiological parameters were observed maximum with PM application. The minimum Cd concentrations in roots (3.65 mg kg − 1 ), shoots (0.33 mg kg − 1 ), and fruits (0.05 mg kg − 1 ) were significantly observed in FM treatment. However, FM application considerably reduced the risk quotient values 4.91E-01 (male) and 7.19E-01 (female), as well as cancer risk (CR) values in men (4.66E-02) and women (6.83E-02) through eggplant ingestion. Females were subjected to higher CR through Cd oral intake than males but below the threshold limits (1 × 10 − 4 10 − 6 ). Overall PM improves growth and physiology, while FM considerably lowers Cd toxicity in soil and plant. Applications for amendments reduce the cancer risk below the US-EPA regulatory limit for both men and women. However, future field studies are needed to evaluate the impact of these amendments on Cd toxicity in plants.