Bhat et al. 2022 - Long-Term Operation of Brick-Kilns Led Heavy Metal Contamination of Soil-Plant-Animal Continuum in Kashmir Himalayas

This study measured Pb, Cd, and Cr through a soil-plant-animal continuum near brick kilns in Kashmir, including paddy straw, rice bran, and cow milk.

Key numbers

Source units are mg/kg. Table 1 reports Mean±SE across the four distance zones: D0 (control), D1 (0-250 m), D2 (250-500 m), D3 (500-750 m).

• Milk Pb exceeded the cited maximum permissible level of 0.2 mg/kg (FSSAI, 2011) in D1 and D2 areas: D2 0.74 +/- 0.30 and D1 0.57 +/- 0.29.
• Paddy straw Pb in D1 was 6.15 +/- 0.38 mg/kg, above the cited 5 mg/kg comparison level (WHO/FAO, 2007).
• Rice bran Pb followed the distance gradient: D2 4.64 +/- 0.58 and D1 4.52 +/- 0.26 were higher than D3 3.18 +/- 0.29 and D0 2.58 +/- 0.28.
• Soil Cd was higher in D1 0.56 +/- 0.01 and D2 0.52 +/- 0.01 than D0 0.44 +/- 0.01 and D3 0.40 +/- 0.00; all values were below the cited EU 2002 maximum permissible level of 3 mg/kg for soil Cd.
• Soil Cr was higher in D1 22.50 +/- 0.73 and D2 22.57 +/- 1.30 than D3 17.28 +/- 1.08 and D0 15.49 +/- 0.21; all values exceeded the cited WHO 1996a permissible limit of 1.3 mg/kg.
• The abstract states Pb and Cr in milk from cows residing up to 500 m exceeded maximum permissible levels.

Methods

The study analyzed Pb, Cd, and Cr in soil, paddy straw, rice bran, cattle serum, and cow milk (n=6 per zone) collected from Hablish village (brick-kiln area, three kilns 10-11 years old) and Tankipora village (matched control, 1.8 km away), with the brick-kiln side stratified into D1 (0-250 m), D2 (250-500 m), and D3 (500-750 m) distance bands. Samples were digested per the procedures of Maurya et al. 2018, Jones et al. 1991, AOAC 2000, Kolmer et al. 1951, and Richards 1968, then analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS-Agilent Technologies 200 series AA) at the Research Centre for Residue and Quality Analysis, SKUAST-Kashmir. Data were analyzed by factorial Completely Randomized Design in R, with Pearson’s correlation among variables.

Implications

Milk values are directly routeable for dairy context. Rice bran and paddy straw values are feed/plant-context evidence and should not be pooled with finished rice grain unless the matrix distinction is preserved.

Wiki pages this source may touch

• Milk and Dairy
• Rice
• Rice (white, brown, wild — bulk grain)
• Lead
• Cadmium
• Chromium

Verification notes

• Source identity checked against DOI 10.30954/2277-940X.03.2022.11 and the downloaded PDF.
• 2026-06-09 autonomous audit (verdict QUARANTINE) corrected two cross-row transpositions in ## Key numbers: the “rice bran Pb” sentence had been populated with soil-Cd values (D0 0.44, D1 0.56, D2 0.52, D3 0.40), and the “Cd in soil” sentence had been populated with soil-Cr values (D2 22.57, D3 17.28, D0 15.49) plus a fabricated D1 value 23.89±0.27 that appeared in no Table 1 cell. The actual values were transcribed directly from Table 1 (p. 385): rice bran Pb D0 2.58, D1 4.52, D2 4.64, D3 3.18 mg/kg; soil Cd D0 0.44, D1 0.56, D2 0.52, D3 0.40 mg/kg; soil Cr D0 15.49, D1 22.50, D2 22.57, D3 17.28 mg/kg. Statistic type is Mean±SE per the Table 1 caption.
• Independent verification caught: the publication frontmatter field previously read “International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotechnology”; the PDF first-page header reads “Journal of Animal Research: v.12 n.3, p. 381-388, June 2022”. Corrected.

Page history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page. The full version history lives in git; when DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.