Sardar Khan

• PhD, postdoc
• Professor (Full) at University of Peshawar

This study investigates the heavy metals concentration in soils derived from mafic and ultramafic rocks of the Kot Parang Ghar mélange zone in the Bucha Area, Mohmand Agency, Pakistan. Furthermore, plant species grown on these soils are assessed for their bioaccumulation ability. Representative samples (soil and plants) were collected and analyzed...

This study investigates the wild plant species for their phytoremediation potential of macro and trace metals (MTM). For this purpose, soil and wild plant species samples were collected along mafic and ultramafic terrain in the Jijal, Dubair, and Alpuri areas of Kohistan region, northern Pakistan. These samples were analyzed for the concentrations...

Biochar addition to soil has been proposed to improve plant growth by increasing soil fertility, minimizing bioaccumulation of toxic metal(liod) sand mitigating climate change. Sewage sludge (SS) is an attractive, though potentially problematic, feedstock of biochar. It is attractive because of its large abundance; however, it contains elevated con...

The influence of sewage sludge (SS) and sewage sludge biochar (SSBC) upon biomass yield and the bioaccumulation of PAHs into lettuce plants grown in contaminated soil (∑16PAH 20.2 ± 0.9 mg kg(-1)) is presented. All SSBC amendments (2, 5 and 10%) and the 2% SS amendment significantly (P < 0.01) increased lettuce biomass. Both SS and SSBC amendments...

It has become increasingly apparent that the pollution of urban recreational parks with arsenic (As) and its species can pose a serious threat to the environment as well as to human health, but risk assessments are limited, especially in developing countries. As concentration, species, and associated human health risks were assessed in soils collec...

In recent years, noise pollution in urban zones has reached critical levels, primarily driven by increased road traffic and poor urban planning. This research is crucial as it quantifies noise pollution in different urban settings of Peshawar, Pakistan, providing valuable insights into the severity of the issue. By using noise descriptors such as L...

Contamination of aquatic and terrestrial environment with hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is one of the major hazards worldwide due its carcinogenicity, persistency and immobility. Different research techniques have been adopted for Cr(VI) remediation present in terrestrial and aquatic media, while adsorption being the most advance, low cost, environmen...

Total arsenic (TAs) contamination is a serious health issue that affects many parts of the world. The sources of TAs in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush Mountains are rocks containing sulfide minerals and coal. The current study investigated the concentrations of TAs in soil, vegetables, and fruits collected from the Chitral Valley in the Hindukush Mou...

This study investigated selenium (Se) levels in poultry feed, chicken (meat and bones), and eggs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (Pakistan) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Selenium levels in all poultry feed, meat, bone, and egg samples were below the permissible limit of 500 µg kg-1 set by the European Food Safety Authority. Sel...

Pesticides are environmental contaminants of great interest because of their toxicity, persistence in the environment and bio-accumulative nature. However, there is a scarcity of literature concerning human exposure to pesticides through the consumption of contaminated drinking water. This study investigates the levels of multiple pesticides in dri...

Contamination of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has received widespread attention in urban children’s parks (UCPs) worldwide in the past few decades. However, the risk assessment of PTEs in drinking water sources of UCPs is still unknown particularly in developing countries. Hence, the present study investigated the spatial distribution, sources...

Fluoride (F-), and arsenic (As) in the groundwater cause health problems in developing countries, including Pakistan. We evaluated the occurrence, distribution, sources apportionment, and health hazards of F-, and As in the groundwater of Mardan, Pakistan. Therefore, groundwater samples (n = 130) were collected and then analyzed for F-, and As by i...

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are a major source of pollution due to their toxicity, persistence, and bio-accumulating nature in riverine bed sediments. The sediment, as the largest storage and source of PTEs, plays an important role in transformation of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and other toxi...

The present study aimed to investigate the physicochemical parameters, potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination with associated health risks in drinking water sources from the disaster affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan). Total water samples (n = 120) were collected from different water distribution...

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are a major source of pollution due to their toxicity, persistence, and bio-accumulating nature in riverine bed sediments. The sediment, as the largest storage and source of PTEs, plays an important role in transformation of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and other toxi...

Glaciers in high altitude mountain regions are retreating rapidly due to global warming, exposing deglaciated soils to extreme environmental conditions and microbial colonization. However, knowledge about chemolithoautotrophic microbes, which play important roles in the development of oligotrophic deglaciated soils prior to plant colonization, rema...

The long-term persistence of potentially carcinogenic pollutants, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in agricultural soil has attracted the world scientists for using various biochars to assess their applicability for reducing their mobility in soils and bioaccumulation in food crops. Experiments were conducted to check the influence of...

This research work aimed to study the kinetics and isotherms of adsorption of mixture of four pesticides (atrazine, chlorothalanil, β-endosulfan, and α-endosulfan) from aqueous solution on activated carbon (AC) and biochar (BCH) under the effect of ultrasonic media. The optimized pH, sonication time, solution initial concentration, adsorbent dose,...

Microplastics (MPs) are widely distributed in the marine environment, posing a significant threat to marine biota. The contribution of anthropogenic and terrestrial sources to the aquatic ecosystem has led to an increase in MPs findings, and their abundance in aquatic biota has been reported to be of concern. MPs are formed mainly via photo degrada...

This study investigated the total and bioaccessible concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in urban soils and their associated human health and ecological risk. Total and bioaccessible metal concentrations were found within the safe limits except for Cd, surpassing the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) China limit in 9.5% o...

Purpose Proglacial terrains provide an ideal environment to determine soil formation and microbial colonization, where autotrophic microbes could play a role as primary producers. We investigated the succession and drivers of autotrophic microorganisms harboring the cbbL gene in deglaciated soils across a 14-year deglaciation chronosequence on the...

Kalpani River, Pakistan is an important stream that collects more than two third of the untreated domestic, commercial, industrial , and sewerage water, agricultural overflow, and other unwanted effluents of the surrounding area. These effluents have degraded the overall quality of this river water. The current study aims to examine the concentrati...

Groundwater contamination by heavy metals (HMs) released by weathering and mineral dissolution of granite, gneisses, ultramafic, and basaltic rock composition causes human health concerns worldwide. This paper evaluated the heavy metals (HMs) concentrations and physicochemical variables of groundwater around enriched chromite mines of Malakand, Pak...

Water contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has become one of the key issues in recent years that threatens human health and ecological systems. The present study is aimed at removing PTEs like cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) from aqueous solutions and industrial wastewater using activated carbon (AC) as an ads...

Mining activities have serious environmental impacts, thus releasing heavy metals (HMs) such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni) into the surrounding environment. The current paper investigated the impacts of mining activities of Pb-Zn sulfide on soil and medicinal plants. Hence, soil samples (n = 36) and medicinal...

The present study aimed to investigate the physicochemical parameters, potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination with associated health risks in drinking water sources from the disaster affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan). Total water samples (n = 120) were collected from different water distribution...

The contamination and apportionment of soils’ potentially harmful trace elements (PHTEs) have drawn worldwide attention of the researchers. In the present study, agricultural soils collected from Shangla, Northern Pakistan, were investigated for source apportionment, spatial investigation pattern, and health risks (ecological and human) of PHTEs. S...

This study was conducted to investigate the quality of groundwater affected due to the municipal solid waste (MSW) used as a landfill. To assess the impacts, 13 groundwater samples were collected from solid waste dumping sites (SWDS) and 13 from safe sites (SS). Groundwater was analyzed for pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), total hardnes...

The present study is aimed to investigate the hydrochemical characteristics, spatial distribution and suitability of groundwater for drinking and irrigation purposes along the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ), north Pakistan. Physicochemical parameters and hazardous trace elements (HTEs) like Cd, Co, Cu and Mn were determined following standard methods. The...

Groundwater is the drinking water source for the majority of rural settlements of district Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study aimed to analyze the groundwater quality and its vulnerability to pollution and to develop its spatial distribution mapping. For this purpose, forty-eight groundwater samples were collected from dug wells, tub...

Accelerated mining activities have increased water contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their associated human health risk in developing countries. The current study investigated the distribution of PTEs, their potential sources and health risk assessment in both ground and surface water sources in mining and non-mining areas of...

In the past few decades, contamination of urban children's parks (UCPs) with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has been attracting more and more interest; however, assessment of eco-environmental and child exposure risks particularly in developing countries remains limited. The current study investigated PTE (Cr, Ni, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) concentrati...

Arsenic (As) is one of the toxic metalloids, therefore, can cause health risk in the consumers through consumption of contaminated food and rice. The current study focused on As speciation in rice, bioavailability, mechanisms and its potential human health risk. For this purpose, rice and soil samples were collected from 16 different districts (non...

Mercury (Hg) contamination of aquatic ecological units and subsequent bioaccumulation are major environmental problems of international scope. Moreover, the biogeochemistry of Hg in the remote alpine lakes aquatic ecosystem in the Himalayas remains largely unexplored. The current study investigated Hg concentrations in different environmental compa...

Globally, potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and bacterial contamination pose health hazards, persistency, and genotoxicity in the groundwater aquifer. This study evaluates PTE concentration, carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health hazards, groundwater quality indexing (GWQI-model), source provenance, and fate distribution in the groundwater of Hind...

Groundwater contamination by potentially harmful elements (PHEs) originating from the weathering of granitic and gneissic rock dissolution poses a public health concern worldwide. This study investigated physicochemical variables and PHEs in the groundwater system and mine water of the Adenzai flood plain region, in Pakistan, emphasizing the fate d...

The contamination of agricultural soil with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and copper (Cu) persists and intensifies in food crops posing a risk to human health. When used as effective soil manures, biomass conversion to organic amendments can help to deal with this deteriora...

This study investigated the effects of modified and unmodified biochar as soil conditioners in alleviating saline-alkaline soil. The biochar was treated with HCl afterward referred as modified biochar (MBCs) and unmodified biochar (UMBCs), respectively. For the quoted reason, a pot experiment was conducted by taking 2% and 3% doses of MBCs and UMBC...

Contamination of plants with toxic elements (TEs) is a renowned environmental issue worldwide. The rapid increase in population and high food demand give rise to several pollutants that finally contaminate the ecosystem. Plants cultivated on contaminated soils show a reduction in growth, nutrient uptake, and yield. The concentrations exceeding the...

Environmental pollution of microplastics (MPs) is known to be anthropogenically mediated menace to biosphere and becoming a debatable concern globally. Large quantities of plastic fragments are left behind after crop cultivation. The leftover plastic debris, gradually degrade into minute fragments with a diameter of less than 5 mm, known as MPs. MP...

Globally, potentially toxic elements (PTEs), and bacterial contamination in the groundwater gain much attention due to health hazards, persistency, and genotoxicity. The health hazard posed due to PTEs via groundwater contamination is a major public health concern. We aim to evaluate PTEs concentration, carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic health hazar...

This study was conducted to investigate the availability of toxic heavy metals (HM) to earthworm-assisted soils of different land types (urban, rural, industrial, and mining) collected from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For this purpose, the soil samples of different land types were collected and assayed for physicochemical properties including HM....

The impacts of climate change in terms of variability in temperature and rainfall are adversely affecting agriculture and its features like cropping patterns, production, agricultural land use, and handling the food crises of the regions. Developing countries like Pakistan are suffering from the disastrous impacts of climate change on agriculture s...

The response of Vigna radiata L. (mung bean) to tropospheric ozone (O3) phytotoxicity using Ethylenediurea (EDU) and magnesium nitrate (Mg(NO3)2, 20 mg/L and 50 mg/L) was assessed through field experiment in Peshawar, Pakistan. For this purpose, semi-urban area was selected and the concentration of tropospheric ozone was monitored. The mean monthly...

Plastics are man-made long-chain high polymeric compounds which have long-lasting effects on environment and human health. One of the most concerning issues of plastic is related with their associated chemicals and their subsequent effects upon release on ecological resources and human beings. The current study was conducted with the purpose to ass...

Exposure to high level of arsenic (As) through the ingestion of contaminated soil, dust and food plants can pose health risk to humans. This study investigates the total arsenic (As), arsenobetaine (AsB), monomethylarsenate (MMA), dimethylarsenate (DMA), arsenite (As³⁺) and arsenate (As⁵⁺) concentrations in poultry feed, manure, agricultural soils...

Farmlands contamination with heavy metals (HMs) can be considered as a global issue especially in developing countries. The current study investigates the various pollution indices, potential ecological risk index (PERI) and human health risk caused by HMs in selected regions of Punjab Province, Pakistan. Farmlands soil samples were collected, acid...

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of municipal solid waste (MSW) used as landfilling on the ground water quality and health effects on the community. The study was carried out in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province- Pakistan. To assess the impacts, 13 ground water samples were collected from Solid Waste Dumping Sites (SWDS) and 13...

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are a major source of pollution due to their toxicity, persistence, and bio-accumulating nature in riverine bed sediments. The sediment, as the largest storage and source of PTEs, plays an important role in transformation of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and other toxi...

Accelerated mining activities have increased water contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their associated human health risk in developing countries. The current study investigated the distribution of PTEs, their potential sources and health risk assessment in both ground and surface water sources in mining and non–mining areas of...

Accelerated mining activities have increased water contamination with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) and their associated human health risk in developing countries. The current study investigated the distribution of PTEs, their potential sources and health risk assessment in both ground and surface water sources in mining and non–mining areas of...

Noise pollution is widely recognized as an important problem and can negatively affect quality of life. This study aimed to examine the temporal and seasonal variations of noise pollution in urban zones of Peshawar, Pakistan. This city is increasingly becoming congested and traffic-related problems are common. Noise levels were assessed in four dif...

Rice and paddies soil in the mining degraded areas are mostly contaminated with toxic metals like mercury (Hg) Hg is a global pollutant which can change into methylmercury (MeHg), the highly toxic and bio-accumulative organic form. This review paper highlights various aspects of Hg including its methylation and uptake by rice (a staple food) in deg...

The study was about the assessment of fluorides (F−) in drinking water, its possible sources and threats to human health in Malakand District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The F− concentration in drinking water samples was measured by the F− meter and was found substantially high in most of the samples than the WHO limits. The cationic and anionic concentra...

Arsenic (As) is one of the toxic metalloids therefore can cause health risk in the consumers through consumption of contaminated food and rice. The current study focused on As speciation in rice, bioavailability, mechanisms and its potential human health risk. For this purpose, rice and soil samples were collected from 16 different districts (non-m...

In recent years, a series of environmental and ecological problems have occurred due to enhanced anthropogenic disturbances for precious minerals mining. Traditional medicines have become an important pillar in national homeopathic treatment system especially in mountainous environment of developing countries. The current study investigates the lev...

This study was designed to assess the effects of tropospheric ozone (O3) on the yield and nutritional quality of chilli (Capsicum annuum L. cv. Pusa Jwala) using ethylene diurea (EDU) under field conditions in Peshawar, Pakistan. Average O3 concentration ranged between 38 and 68 ppb which is high enough to cause phytotoxic effects. Accumulated ozon...

Arsenic (As), being the first class of carcinogen, reflects disastrous threats to living beings owing to its high persistence, toxicity, bioaccumulation, and bioavailability in the environment. The toxicity of As notably linked with its inorganic forms such as arsenite (AsIII) and arsenate (AsV). The As-contaminated water irrigation of the rice fie...

Farmlands contamination with heavy metals (HMs) can be considered as a global issue especially in developing countries. The current study investigates the various pollution indices, potential ecological risk index (PERI) and human health risk caused by HMs in some selected regions of Punjab Province, Pakistan. Farmlands soil samples were collected,...

This study investigated the lead (Pb) contamination levels in a military shooting range soil of Nowshera Cantonment, Pakistan. For this purpose, various soil samples were collected from the military shooting range and analyzed for Pb concentration using the atomic absorption spectrometry (Perkin Elmer 1100B, USA). Results demonstrated that soil Pb...

This study investigates the values of pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), elevation, oxidative reduction potential (ORP), temperature, and depth, while the concentrations of Br, and potentially harmful metals (PHMs) such as Cr, Ni, Cd, Mn, Cu, Pb, Co, Zn, and Fe in the groundwater samples. Moreover, geographic information system (GIS), XLSTAT, and IB...

Wastewater irrigation leads to the deposition of hazardous elements (HE) in irrigated soils which could be accumulated in cultivated vegetables, contaminating the food chain and pose threat to the human population. HE concentrations could be varied in the wastewater-irrigated and background soil and cultivated vegetables with season depending on te...

Arsenic (As) is one of the most toxic metalloids, released to environment from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Among different species of As, inorganic As (iAs) is more toxic than organic As (oAs). Among food stuffs, rice is considered as one of the most important exposure routes of As for human. This study was conducted to quantify total A...

This study evaluates the characteristics of water along the Swat River, Northern Pakistan. For this purpose, water samples (n = 30) were collected and analyzed for physicochemical parameters including heavy metals (HM). The mean concentrations of physicochemical parameters and HM were within the drinking water guideline values set by the World Heal...

Soil pollution with potentially toxic elements is a significant environmental problem worldwide. Such soils need reclamation, utilizing environmentally friendly and cost-effective techniques. Therefore, a study was performed with an aim to evaluate the effect of different organic amendments on bioaccumulation of potentially toxic elements in spinac...

This study investigated the effects of light intensity on growth and biomass production of three submerged macrophyte species including Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria natans, and Ceratophyllum demersum in different water strata. For this purpose, water was classified into six strata designed: 5 cm, 30 cm, 60 cm, 90 cm, 120 cm, and 150 cm in the...

This study was carried to assess the arsenic (As) contamination in water, soil, and rice. Surface-water (n=120), soil (n=102), and rice plants (n=50) samples were collected from the Sewakht (rural) and Chitral city (urban) areas, Pakistan, and analyzed for As concentration. The average concentration of As were 2 and 2 µg/L in water, 0.67 and 0.07 m...

Biochar can be tailored to valuable and engineered product with specified requirements, purpose of use, condition of soil, type of potential toxic elements (PTEs) to be remediated, crops cultivated and/or types of feedstocks used as raw materials. Biochar application for remediation of metal contaminated soil has received a great attention in the r...

Globally fungi have the ecological and biochemical capability to reduce organic and inorganic chemicals and to decrease the risk associated with contaminants, either by chemical alteration or by manipulating chemical bioavailability in wastewater. Moreover, the abundance functional gene seemed to reflect the type of the contamination. With optimize...

Freshwater contamination is one of the major global environmental problems especially in developing countries due to low economic and high population growth rate. Bioremediation is a cost-effective, onsite, green technology and environmental friendly method. The present study investigated freshwa-ter algal biomasses for biosorption potential of var...

Human exposure to arsenic (As) is a global public health concern that frequently occurs through both dietary and non-dietary pathways. This is the first systematic field study that investigated the drinking water (n = 190) for concentrations of total As (AsT) and its inorganic species such as arsenate As(V) and arsenite As(III) and organic species...

Road traffic noise is affecting the exposed population through its detrimental effects. This study was conducted in urban zones of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to analyze causal relationship between noise and subjective health complaints with a special focus on psychological symptoms. A 12-h (LAeq) noise survey conducted at different loc...

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are used in the poultry feed as additives and growth promoters which can transfer to food plants grown on manure-amended agricultural soils. The consumption of food plants grown on manure-amended soil can cause health risk due to presence of high level of PTEs. In this study, PTE concentrations in poultry-manure, s...