Effect of Lead Toxicity on Wild Cannabis Species of Punjab Region

Abstract

Human activities are causing environmental pollution in many ways by contaminating air, water and soil by adding different types of pollutants. Among various pollutants, heavy metals are an emerging threat in today’s world which are degrading our environment in a number of ways. Lead is the most widespread and evenly distributed poisonous element. Due to urbanization and growing human activities, lead emissions in different forms have increased, resulting in the contamination of soil and water. The lead transfers from environment to different forms of life, disrupting biological processes and causing various health issues. In this article, pot culture experiments were carried out to analyse the stress of Lead (Pb) and the capability of Cannabis sp. to tolerate the stress by studying the impact of different concentrations (0 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg of soil) on various biochemical aspects of the plant (Photosynthetic pigments, protein, antioxidant enzyme activity). Lead was given in the form of lead acetate. The results showed that the photosynthetic pigments-chlorophyll and carotenoid decreased with increasing lead concentration. Same effect was shown by the protein content in the leaves. On the other hand, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), which is an antioxidant enzyme, increased with increasing concentration of lead.