Evaluation of potential ecological risk and prediction of zinc accumulation and its transfer in soil plants and ruminants: public health implications

Present work evaluated the zinc (Zn) concentration in soil, forage, blood plasma, hair, and feces samples of cows, buffaloes, and sheep taken from Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan. The concentration of Zn was found in the ranged of 21.82–35.09mg/kg, 32.59–42.17mg/kg, 0.927–2.48mg/l, 1.03–2.84mg/kg, and 0.923–1.98mg/kg in soil, forage, blood plasma, hair, and feces samples, respectively. The Zn concentration in soil, forage, blood, hair, and feces was safer compared to standard limits. Statistical analysis described that values for BCF, PLI, EF, DIM, and HRI ranged 1.03–1.57mg/kg, 0.486–0.782mg/kg, 0.457–0.696mg/kg, 0.048–0.08mg/kg, and 0.160–0.272mg/kg, respectively. It can be concluded from the present work that Zn concentration was safe in soil, forages, and animal samples. BCF was noticed as greater than 1 while PLI, EF, DIM, and HRI were found less than 1, so regular heavy metal analysis was required to appraise the contamination level in environment.