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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Impact of Foliar Applied Metals Contaminated
Dust on Crop Growth and Soil Health
1
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, 38040-Pakistan
2
Key Laboratory of Ecological Prewarning, Protection and Restoration of Bohai Sea, Ministry of Natural Resources,
School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, PR China
3
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 22452, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia
These authors had equal contribution to this work
Submission date: 2024-05-21
Final revision date: 2024-08-09
Acceptance date: 2024-09-04
Online publication date: 2024-11-08
Publication date: 2025-11-04
Corresponding author
Muhammad Fahad Sardar
School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Key Laboratory of Ecological Prewarning, Protection and Restoration of Bohai Sea, Ministry of Natural Resources, 266237, Qingdao, China
School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Key Laboratory of Ecological Prewarning, Protection and Restoration of Bohai Sea, Ministry of Natural Resources, 266237, Qingdao, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2025;34(6):7017-7031
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Dust contaminated with metal ions caused pollution in soil and vegetation alongside roads. The
study aimed to evaluate the effect of foliar-applied heavy metal-contaminated dust on the growth,
physiology, and enzymatic activities of maize and sugarcane crops in the pot experiment. Dust collected
from 0 (44 g), 10 (39 g), 60 (24 g), and 120 meter (9 g) distances from the M4 motorway, Faisalabad,
Pakistan, was applied by hand to plants weekly. The plant growth, physiology, and enzymatic activity
were recorded after the 40 and 80 days, while metal contamination in plant and soil was analyzed in
an atomic absorption spectrophotometer after the crops harvest. Results show that foliar application of
44 g dust significantly reduced growth parameters like plant height, root length, and shoot fresh and
dry weight in both crops. Photosynthetic and transpiration rates, stomatal conductance, and internal
carbon dioxide (CO2) declined with the 44 g dust application rate. The maximum enzyme activity of
superoxidase dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase was recorded at treatment receiving a 39 g dust. Plant
roots, shoots, and leaves have retained maximum concentrations of cadmium and zinc than lead, copper,
and nickel at a 39 g dust application rate.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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