The consumption of contaminated vegetables has a great impact on human health. Due to this fact, we conduct the study to estimate the heavy metals in groundwater, soil, and vegetables by using the atomic adsorption spectroscopy (AAS) and find out the health risk using THQ and TCR caused by using these vegetables. The mean concentrations of As (0.015–0.40 mg/L), Cd (0.02–0.029 mg/L), Co (0.31–0.38 mg/L), Cr (1.02–1.09 mg/L), Cu (2.14–2.17 mg/L), and Hg (0.01–0.04 mg/L) are high in groundwater from threshold values given by WHO. The mean concentrations of As (22.17–23.14 mg/kg), Cd (4.21–4.54 mg/kg), Cu (21.24–24.36 mg/kg), and Pb (32.12–33.48 mg/kg) are high in soil samples from threshold values given by WHO. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Fe, Hg, and Mn values exceeded the recommended values with concentration ranges: 1.75–4.56, 0.41–0.67, 2.12–3.12, 1.44–4.56, 87.12–135.25, 2.09–2.64, and 33.41–129.32 mg/Kg, respectively. The vegetable sample’s average concentration of heavy metals was in decreasing order cabbage ˃ brinjal ˃ okra ˃ tomato. The EDI values for As, Co, and Hg calculated for both adults and children is high. The target hazard quotients (THQ) for As, Co, and Hg are greater than the threshold value by consuming vegetables, which indicated the health risk for both adults and children. Similarly, HI due to tomato, cabbage, okra, and brinjal’s consumption is ˃ 1, with HI values 8.1975, 15.3077, 8.7312, and 10.2306, respectively. This advised the possible health effect in this area by using these vegetables. Target Cancer risk (TCR) exposed the adverse cancer risk persuaded by As, Cr, and Hg as their values exceeded the normal range by USEPA by consumption of these vegetables. This study concluded that vegetables imply the total health risk on local people, and regular monitoring of heavy metals is strongly suggested in this region.

Lead is getting more and more alarming because of its toxicity and destructive effects on plants, animals, and human health. The higher lead uptake by plants deteriorate the consistency in growth and yield of crops. However, plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) interacting with the organic matter could be a practical approach to ameliorate the Pb toxicity. Therefore, the current study was planned to investigate the combined effect of organic matter with PGPR on the growth, physiology, and yield of sunflower plants in the lead polluted soil. For this purpose, the soil was contaminated (600 mg kg⁻¹) by Pb (NO₃)₂ salt solution and composted with pressmud 2% (w/w) as an organic amendment; sunflower seeds were inoculated with a lead tolerant bacterial strain (Pseudomonas gessardii BLP141). Composted soil samples were collected from un-inoculated and unpolluted treatment to investigate the Physico-chemical variations in soil. After harvesting, agronomical data (growth, yield, physiology) was recorded, and plant tissues (root, shoot, and achene) were analyzed for Pb contents. Results revealed that the combined application had significantly improved the plant growth (65%), total chlorophyll contents (63%), yield (47%), and lead immobilization (78%) over lead control in lead polluted soil. The soil organic matter (26%), total nitrogen contents (21%), available phosphorus (20%), and extractable potassium contents (26%) were improved in pressmud control after the 105 days of the first incubation period. Through this feasible practice, the plant growth and yield of sunflower can be enhanced, and soil could be managed from lead toxicity.

Elemental mercury (Hg⁰) removal from a hot gas is still challenging since high temperature influences the Hg⁰ removal and regenerable performance of the sorbent. In this work, a facile yet innovative sonochemical method was developed to synthesize a thermally stable magnetic tea biochar to capture the Hg⁰ from syngas. A sonochemically synthesized magnetic sorbent (TUF_0.46) exhibited a more prodigious surface area with developed pore structures, ultra-paramagnetic properties, and high dispersion of Fe₃O₄/γ-Fe₂O₃ particles than a simply synthesized magnetic sorbent (TF_0.46). The results showed that TUF_0.46 demonstrated strong thermostability and attained a high Hg⁰ removal performance (∼98.6%) at 200 °C. After the 10th adsorption/regeneration cycle, the Hg⁰ removal efficiency of TUF_0.46 was 19% higher than that of TF_0.46. Besides, at 23.1% Hg⁰ breakthrough, TUF_0.46 achieved an average Hg⁰ adsorption capacity of 16.58 mg/g within 24 h under complex syngas (20% CO, 20% H₂, 5% H₂O, and 400 ppm H₂S). In addition, XPS results revealed that surface-active components (Fe⁺, O^2–, O*, C═O) were the key factor for high Hg⁰ removal performance over TUF_0.46 from syngas. Hence, sonochemistry is a promising practical tool for improving the surface morphology, thermal resistance, renewability, and Hg⁰ removal efficiency of a sorbent.