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The diverse pollutants emitted from automobiles can have adverse effects on the health and survival of plants, animals and human beings. Different plant species have been known to possess high potential of absorption, detoxification and tolerance of high levels of pollution. Considering this, the present study was carried out to assess the impact of automobile pollution on palynology of roadside plants. Three species, viz. Cannabis sativa, Cassia fistula and Thevetia peruviana growing along the roadsides of nine sites of Amritsar city under different levels of traffic stress were selected for the study. Pollen viability and pollen size were studied by staining pollen with 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride stain and observed under light microscope. Scanning electron microscope was used to study the changes in morphology of the pollen grains. It was observed that the percentage of pollen viability of three species was inversely proportional to the load of traffic at a particular site. Pollen viability was observed to be minimum (C. sativa—22.58 %; C. fistula—21.30 %; and T. peruviana—6.22 %) for the plants of the three species studied growing at traffic site I, site with heavy traffic load as compared to plants growing at sites with comparatively lesser traffic load. C. sativa growing at traffic site IV showed maximum pollen viability of 79.74 %, while C. fistula and T. peruviana growing at traffic site VIII exhibited maximum pollen viability of 83.32 and 68.78 %, respectively. Pollen size and morphology did not show any significant variation and remained unaffected with the increase in traffic stress.

Plant kingdom is rich in phytochemicals with high potential for medicinal and therapeutic uses. These can be particularly recruited to combat the environmental genotoxins that have increased tremendously in last few decades due to industrialization of human lifestyle. Screening of plants for this purpose involves a battery of bioassays; the mammalian or bacterial assays are used worldwide. Considering the ethical and economic reasons, the use of plant bioassays for the initial screening is advocated. Of all plant bioassays available, Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay is an efficient, most-easy and inexpensive tool that can be used for (i) assessment of genotoxicity of environmental mutagens and (ii) evaluation of anti-genotoxic potential of plant extracts. The present chapter discusses the history, application and technical aspects of this assay in assessing the geno-protective potential of various plants with special reference to Ashwagandha, the wonder herb.

Irrigation of agricultural land with wastewater leads to continuous buildup of metals at these sites which gets accumulated in the vegetables and crops growing on these sites. Not just the crops irrigated with wastewater are hazardous, in present study, we have found that vegetables growing in vicinity of wastewater drain are also not safe for human consumption. The risk associated with consumption of vegetables was assessed by calculating hazard quotient and results revealed that the hazard quotient for leafy and tuberous vegetables was higher than the safe limits in all the sites irrespective of mode of irrigation. Spinach was the most hazardous among all as the hazard quotient with respect to cobalt and copper was highest in spinach. Uptake trend of metals in all vegetables: Iron > Cobalt > Copper > Cadmium > Lead. Cadmium, a potential carcinogen was found in concentrations higher than permissible limits in many vegetables from all sites. Highest level of cadmium (1.20 mg/kg) and copper (81.33 mg/kg) was reported in site which was in vicinity of waste water drain but irrigated with ground water. Concentration of copper and lead in vegetable samples from different sites exhibited no statistically significant difference with respect to different sites.