A scoping review of wastewater irrigation and associated health and environmental factors: Pakistan in focus

Background: Wastewater is used increasingly in the agricultural sector to cope with the depletion of freshwater resources as well as water stress linked to change to the climate conditions. Research focusing on the human and environmental health risks is critical because exposure to a range of contaminants needs to be weighed with the benefits to food security, nutrition, and livelihoods. Purpose: The aim of this scoping review is to examine the studies on human and environmental risks and factors associated with wastewater irrigation in the agricultural fields of Pakistan and to identify research trends and gaps. Methods: The literature for this scoping review article was identified from Google Scholar, Science Direct, Scopus, PubMed, PubMed health, full pdf (web of scientific publications), JSTOR, Research Gate, Google, and the free browser Kopernio. The studies focusing on Pakistan were discovered spanning from 1996-2020 and a total of 138 published studies were summarized and reviewed accordingly. Findings: The findings of the review showed that among the total 138 studies, the geographical distribution was as follows: Punjab (85), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (24), Balochistan (7), Sindh (4), Islamabad (2), Gilgit Baltistan (1) and Azad Jammu Kashmir (1). Most studies had used experimental, descriptive, and cross-sectional survey designs. The samples of crops, vegetables, and fruits, raw milk, and soil were collected and tested in laboratories for assessing health and environmental risks. Major themes included heavy metals contamination, human, animal, and environmental health risks, ecological risk assessment, wastewater treatment, soil salinity, and groundwater contamination, wastewater characteristics, impacts on crops production, wastewater management and regulations, effects on aquaculture, and socio-economic impacts were identified in the scoping review. Conclusion: The screening of the reviewed articles indicated that future research should consider wastewater treatment strategies, disease profiling caused by wastewater, socio-economic impacts, and effects on aquaculture and animal health. Policymakers are suggested to utilize the results of this research for revamping policies and strategies for wastewater management.

کلیدواژه ها:

Wastewater ، environmental risks ، health risks ، irrigation ، Pakistan ، wastewater