Arsenic accumulation in pumpkin through contaminated groundwater and varietal evaluation thereof in gangetic alluvium of West Bengal

Arsenic is the most hazardous toxic metalloid available in the natural ecological unit and widely distributed in various parts of the world. Near about 50 million people are suffering from its toxicity in Gangetic alluvium of India particularly in West Bengal. The emerging areas of arsenic problem in agricultural system through use of contaminated irrigation water and entry of toxin in vegetables have been largely ignored. Arsenic uptake by plants and its translocation to the edible parts were observed to vary with crops even across the cultivars. With this background, the experiment was laid out in RBD with five selected pumpkin cultivars each replicated four times to study the arsenic accumulation and varietal tolerance of pumpkin and arsenic intake and dietary risk assessment through fruits at different sites of Framers’ fields in Nadia district of West Bengal during summer of 2008–09 and 2009–10. The arsenic accumulation was estimated by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) coupled with FIAS-400. The locally grown cultivar was observed to maximum arsenic accumulation with lower yield across the experimental sites, whereas, higher yielding capacity with least arsenic loading in fruit was recorded in cultivars Kali kumro and Ambili. Arsenic accumulation in different parts of pumpkin remained in an order of root > stem > leaf > fruit across the cultivars.