Accumulation of heavy metals in edible parts of vegetables irrigated with waste water and their daily intake to adults and children, District Mardan, Pakistan

► Level of eight heavy metals was determined in vegetables irrigated with wastewater. ► Heavy metals accumulation was several folds greater than the FAO/WHO standards. ► High bioconcentration factor was associated with all vegetables studied. ► Daily human intake of the metals a was significantly greater than FAO/WHO standards. Green vegetable crops irrigated with wastewater are highly contaminated with heavy metals and are the main source of human exposure to the contaminants. In this study accumulation of eight heavy metals (Cu, Ni, Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn, Co and Pb) in green vegetables like Allium cepa, Allium sativum, Solanum lycopersicum and Solanum melongena, irrigated with wastewater in Mardan are studied using Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer. The studied metals in vegetable grown on wastewater irrigated soil were significantly higher than those of tube well water irrigated soil and WHO/FAO permissible limits (P