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Human health is the biggest issue with consumption of contaminated vegetables and water. This study aimed to quantify heavy metals in soil, irrigation water, and vegetables in five urban and peri‐urban area of Delhi. Under this study, vegetable crops, i.e. spinach, tomato, carrot, potato, onion and mustard were selected and soil, water and vegetable samples were analyzed for five toxic heavy metals, i.e. As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb. Result showed that in irrigation water samples, Cd crossed the WHO/FAO permissible limit at Mehrauli and Najafgarh, while in all vegetable samples Cd content was detected more than permissible limit except for spinach. At all the sites, transfer factor and hazard risk index were observed higher in spinach and okra. The target hazard quotient were higher in spinach (1.184) and correlated with higher As content. Findings revealed that contaminated vegetables consumption needs to be continuously monitored to avoid adverse health impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of six vegetables (S. tuberosum, D. carota, S. lycopersicum, A. esculentus, S. oleracea and B. juncea) were analysed for five heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, and Pb) to evaluate the contamination load in vegetables collected from five cultivated and two market sites (n = 504) at Delhi, India. The irrigation water samples and soil samples (n = 180) were only collected from cultivated sites. The results showed that the concentration of heavy metals in soil and water samples were well below the permissible level except for Cd 0.001–0.013 µg g−1. Similarly, the concentration of Cd (>0.20 µg g−1) was detected higher in all investigated vegetables except for tomato. The evaluation index value was highest for spinach and lowest for tomato. The transfer factor values and metal pollution index was maximum in spinach and okra. Principal component analysis (PCA), Tukey's HSD (Honestly Significant Difference) test, and one-way and two-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) were also applied to statistically analyse the results. [Display omitted] • Differential metal loads were observed in market and cultivated vegetable samples. • The highest and least accumulation of metals was reported by spinach and tomato, respectively. • Wastewater irrigation enhances the metal contents in vegetables and soil. • Transfer factor and metal pollution index showed the transfer and uptake of metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]