Heavy metal contamination of food crop plants is viewed as a global issue. Heavy metals like cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), arsenic (As), cobalt (Co), and mercury (Hg) are poisonous. Depending on their concentration and capacity for bioaccumulation, they can provide a range of health risks.This research sought to investigate the effects of toxic metals (TMs) on the growth characteristics of produced tomatoes grown under wastewater irrigation. Additionally, it looked into the potential repercussions of both domestic and foreign individuals consuming this plant. In south Cairo, Egypt, two study locations were looked into: a control site in Abu Ragwan, which received water from tributaries of the Nile River, and a contaminated site in El-Shobak El-Sharky, which had raw industrial wastewater. The nutrients of soil and tomato plants (N, P, and K) decreased (P < 0.01), while TMs increased (P < 0.001) significantly as a result of using wastewater for irrigation. Except for Cu, all examined TM accumulating in tomato plants’ roots as opposed to shoots had a bioaccumulation factor (BF) > 1. However, the tomato plant’s shoot had solely undergone Pb and Ni translocation and storage, with a translocation factor (TF) > 1. A significant amount of Fe (5000.1 mg kg⁻¹), Pb (360.7 mg kg⁻¹), and Mn (356.3 mg kg⁻¹) were present in the edible fruits. The ingestion of contaminated crops increases the daily intake rate of metals (DIR). The values of the high hazard quotient (HQ) were obtained (2073.8 and 2558.9 for Pb, 574.0 and 708.3 for Cd, and 41.1 and 50.7 for Fe for adults and children, respectively). Therefore, tomato plants grown in soils irrigated with untreated wastewater may offer a greater danger to human health, indicating that they should not be grown as a crop for human consumption.

The present study aims to assess the relation between the floristic composition and the different habitats charcterizing the western Mediterranean region of Egypt, determine the community types that dominate the study area; and evaluating the rarity of the recorded species. Nine hundred and sixty eight species (belonged to 429 genera and 97 family) were recorded; 363 species were restricted to one habitat, while only one species occured in all the 13 habitats. Asteraceae had the highest contribution, followed by Fabaceae, Poaceae and Brassicaceae. The most represented life form was therophytes, while parasites were the least. Six habitat groups were resulted after the application of 1WINSPAN and DCA. Mediterranean elements were the most represented, followed by Irano-Turanian, but Sudano­ Zambezian elements were the least. Twenty endemics and 21 near endemic species were recorded. Species which had small geographical distribution, narrow habitat specificity and were non-abundant (SNN) were the most represented, while species had large geographical distribution, wide habitat specificity and non-abundant (LWN) were the least. Forty one species were recorded as introduced species in the study area. Therecent land use led to the emergence of new invasive species, which may severely affect the plant diversity and community structure of the study area.