Heavy Metal Contamination in Roadside Orchards: Implications and Management Strategies: A Review

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination of fruit crops especially in road side orchards has potential health hazards on consumers. The roadside orchards face significant contamination from heavy metals like lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) originate from anthropogenic activities such as vehicular emissions, industrial activities and agricultural practices like pesticide, fungicide, as well as fertilizer use release heavy metals into the soil, water and atmosphere. These persistent pollutants alter soil chemistry, reduce microbial activity, impair nutrient uptake and induce physiological stress in trees, leading to stunted growth, poor yield and degraded fruit quality that causes health complication to the customers. Contaminated product poses serious public health risks due to bioaccumulation, while on its ecological exploit impacts to biodiversity loss and food chain disruption. Effective mitigation strategies that include phytoremediation, good agricultural practices and regular monitoring is widely used to ensure sustainable productivity, consumer safety and ecosystem health.