The escalating presence of heavy metals (HMs) in the Panjkora River water and their impact on fish pose a significant challenge to both the ecological community and human health. Consequently, a study was conducted with the primary aim of elucidating their influence on human health-related issues. To address this, the concentrations of heavy metals, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), in both water and the fish species Crossocheilus diplocheilus were investigated across various locations within the study area. The quantification of HMs concentration was carried out utilizing an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The highest concentration in water was found as 0.060 mg/L for Pb and lowest for Fe, whereas the highest concentration in fish was 2.028 mg/kg for Pb and lowest for As. Human health risk associated with fish eating was evaluated by using health risk indices (HRI) for non-carcinogenic health risks and targeted cancer risk (TR) for carcinogenic health risks. The values of the health risk index (HRI) were found greater than 1 except Fe (0.0792), Zn (0.782), and Mn (0.541). The highest mean HRI > 1 was recorded for As (62.99), Cd (26.85), and Pb (10.56). This implies that fish consumption from river Panjkora is not safe up to some extent. Similarly, the TR value for As, Cd, and Pb was found 2.8 $$\times {10}^{-2}$$× 10 - 2 , 1.6 $$\times {10}^{-2}$$× 10 - 2 , 2.8 × $${10}^{-3}$$10 - 3 which showed cancer risk. There is a detected risk to human health associated with the consumption of fish from the Panjkora River. The government must implement adaptive measures to address this significant issue of water pollution in the study area. Additionally, there is a need for further extensive and prolonged research studies in this context.

The proper maintenance of soil physiochemical properties in grassland ecosystems through independent management practices like grazing and mowing have strongly influenced the soil quality and grassland yield. Less known is, to declare the best-fit management strategy for the grassland ecosystem. The present study was performed to search for the best-fit management system for the grassland ecosystem in northern China by evaluating the consequences of grazing and mowing on soil physiochemical properties like soil moisture, bulk density, electrical conductivity, pH, and total concentrations of C, N, and P. We found that compared to mowing, grazing significantly increased soil moisture, bulk density, and N concentration by 12%, 7%, and 14%, respectively. However, no significant effect of grazing was observed on soil C and P concentrations and C: N, C: P, and N: P ratios. However, grazing was found to strongly affect soil physiochemical properties; in contrast, mowing did not alter the soil C, N, and P concentrations and their stoichiometric ratios. Further, physical properties were altered more significantly than the soil chemical properties. This study suggests that, compared to mowing, cattle grazing has more positive impacts on soil physicochemical properties which will be the best-fit management strategy for the grassland ecosystem in northeastern China. A comprehensive investigation of long-term grazing and mowing on soil physicochemical properties may enable us to predict further better understandings.