The present study was conducted to evaluate the quality of drinking water and assess the potential health hazards due to water contaminants in selected urban areas of Lahore, Pakistan. Water samples were collected from ten sites and analyzed for different physico-chemical parameters including turbidity, color, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), nitrates, fluoride, residual chlorine, and total hardness. Additionally, heavy metal (arsenic) and microbial parameters (E. coli) were also determined in the water samples. Drinking water quality evaluation indices, including the water quality index (WQI) for physico-chemical and biological parameters and human health risk assessment (HHRA) for heavy metal were estimated using the analytical results of the target parameters. It was found in most of the areas that the levels of arsenic, fluoride, TDS, and residual chlorine were higher than those recommended by the National Environmental Quality Standard (NEQS) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. In addition to the physico-chemical parameters, microbial content (E. coli) was also found in the drinking water samples of the selected areas. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that levels of target parameters in drinking water samples are significantly different between sampling sites. The WQI for all physico-chemical and microbial parameters indicated that drinking water in most of the areas was unfit and unsuitable (WQI > 100) for drinking purposes except for the water of Bhatti Gate and Chota Gaon Shahdara with a WQI of 87 and 91, respectively. Drinking water in these areas had a very poor WQI rating. According to HHRA, drinking water from the selected sites was found to be of high risk to children and adults. The carcinogenic risk of arsenic indicated that all samples were of high risk to both adults and children (4.60 and 4.37 × 10⁻³, respectively). Regular monitoring of drinking water quality is essential, and proactive measures must be implemented to ensure the treatment and availability of safe drinking water in urban areas.

The aim of the present study was to assess the drinking water quality in the selected urban areas of Lahore and to comprehend the public health status by addressing the basic drinking water quality parameters. Total 50 tap water samples were collected from groundwater in the two selected areas of district Lahore i.e., Gulshan-e-Ravi (site 1) and Samanabad (site 2). Water samples were analyzed in the laboratory to elucidate physico-chemical parameters including pH, turbidity, temperature, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), total hardness, magnesium hardness, and calcium hardness. These physico-chemical parameters were used to examine the Water Quality Index (WQI) and Synthetic Pollution Index (SPI) in order to characterize the water quality. Results of th selected physico-chemical parameters were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines to determine the quality of drinking water. A GIS-based approach was used for mapping water quality, WQI, and SPI. Results of the present study revealed that the average value of temperature, pH, and DO of both study sites were within the WHO guidelines of 23.5 °C, 7.7, and 6.9 mg/L, respectively. The TDS level of site 1 was 192.56 mg/L (within WHO guidelines) and whereas, in site 2 it was found 612.84 mg/L (higher than WHO guidelines), respectively. Calcium hardness of site 1 and site 2 was observed within the range from 25.04 to 65.732 mg/L but, magnesium hardness values were higher than WHO guidelines. The major reason for poor water quality is old, worn-out water supply pipelines and improper waste disposal in the selected areas. The average WQI was found as 59.66 for site 1 and 77.30 for site 2. Results showed that the quality of the water was classified as “poor” for site 1 and “very poor “ for site 2. There is a need to address the problem of poor water quality and also raise the public awareness about the quality of drinking water and its associated health impacts.

Contaminated drinking water poses a significant threat to public health, particularly in urban areas where industrial and environmental pollutants may affect water quality. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies that evaluate the specific health risks associated with harmful metal contaminants in drinking water. This study seeks to address this gap by assessing water quality and metal contamination using pollution indices and human health risk assessments. The findings will help to identify potential health risks for urban residents and guide the development of targeted interventions and improved water management strategies. The groundwater samples were collected from five different zones in Kasur rural area. A total of 25 samples were collected by random sampling from hand pumps during 4 months (March–June, 2021) for determining various physiochemical attributes (pH, electric conductivity, turbidity, total hardness, chloride, and phosphate) and potentially toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, and lead) using standard protocols. Results revealed that almost all the physicochemical attributes were close to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. The water quality assessment revealed that pH levels ranged from 7.4 to 9.0, electrical conductivity (EC) between 150 µS/cm and 800 µS/cm, and average turbidity of 12 ± 3.29 NTU, total hardness varied from 200 to 1000 mg/L. Chloride and phosphate concentrations averaged 304 ± 1.28 mg/L and 4.51 ± 1.99 mg/L, respectively. Cadmium levels ranged from 0.15 to 0.53 mg/L, while lead and arsenic concentrations reached up to 7.47 mg/L, exceeding the WHO guidelines. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) values of all sites were less than critical value of 100. However, by considering the HPI classes, all the locations had high HPI (> 30) class indicating critically polluted water with heavy metals. Through exposure to drinking water, heavy metals had a significant impact on non-carcinogenic risk (HI > 1), according to the hazard index values determined by the human health risk analysis for children, infants, and adults. As compared with metals carcinogenic risk values, lead posed high risks to adults than children and infants as mean CR values for adults, children, and infants were 1.48E + 00, 1.40E + 00, and 7.60E-01, respectively. It is suggested that for drinking water supplies, there is need of installation of treatment plants in the industrial areas to minimize the risk of metal contamination and health issues.

Introduction: This study aims to assess the extent of heavy metal contamination in urban soils in sixteen selected cities of Pakistan, encompassing the elements cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), and copper (Cu).Methods: The data utilized for this study was collected from online literature during the period 2005 to 2019. This study investigated potential threats to human health through a comprehensive analysis, considering standards such as Enrichment Factors (EF), Geo-accumulation Indices (Igeo), and Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA).Results: Geo-accumulation Index results indicated varied risk intensities, with Cu, Pb, Co, Mn, and Fe exhibiting “no pollution” levels, while other elements show “moderate to extremely contaminated” values. EF analysis provided evidence of heavy metal presence, revealing a spectrum from “no pollution” to “moderate to extremely high pollution” for Cd, Zn, Cr, Ni, and Cu. The health risk assessment identified both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic dangers for adults and children.Discussion: These findings highlighted the substantial contribution of identified sources such as industrial processes, vehicular emissions, sewage sludge, urban flooding, and the production and use of metallic materials that have elevated heavy metal levels in the urban soils. This established the link between urban industrial zones, human health, and long-term economic sustainability. This study provides essential guidance for decision makers to develop effective strategies for soil remediation, enhanced industrial practices, and regulatory measures to address heavy metal contamination in urban areas, ensuring the wellbeing and sustainable environmental quality management in cities.

Green nanotechnology has significant potential for use in agriculture particularly due to their antifungal properties, ability to control fungal diseases and reduce the reliance on chemical fungicides. Biotic stresses in agriculture have caused widespread damage worldwide, and green NPs provided eco-friendly alternatives to traditional chemical treatments, which are frequently toxic and harmful to the ecosystem. Green NPs could become an important tool in modern agricultural practices and environmental remediation if appropriate research is conducted to identify cost-effective production methods as well as safe and sustainable applications. In order to understand the potential of green NPs for sustainable agriculture and identify potential risks, research is ongoing into the effectiveness in agriculture sectors. Research update on green NPs is presented in this paper using data published on science direct over the last 15 to 20 years to clarify and understand the antifungal mechanisms of green metallic NPs, carbon and graphene nanotubes, nanocomposites as well as other type of nanomaterials. These green NPs are found to be more effective against pathogens on crops and humans than conventional fungicide approaches. They are very effective against fungi that affect cereal crops, including Fusarium oxysporum, Botrytis cinerea, and Candida species, etc. The green NPs developed using green synthesis methods are both cost-effective and environmentally friendly. Moreover, research is also required to identify the best methods for applying green NPs for crop production and sustainable agriculture. Furthermore, research should be undertaken to establish the most cost-effective methods of making and deploying green nanoparticles at a large field size study where there is fungal attack that diminishes agricultural output and affects global crop production.