Environmental pollutants are some toxic substances that are introduced to the environment from both natural and anthropogenic activities (Alengebawy et al. 2021). Heavy metals and metalloids are those having densities of more than 5 g/cm3 (Arora and Khosla 2022). Most of the heavy metals are transition metals from the periodic table, they are characterized by atoms that have a complicated and liable outermost electron shells. They are distinguished from other metals and metalloids in that they are more stable and non-degradable and cannot be eliminated from the environment with the help of chemical and biological changes (Goncharuk and Zagoskina 2023). Heavy metals such as cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), and lead (Pb) are hazardous substances and long-persistent that are released from industrial and natural mineral sources (Kaur et al. 2023). Soil contamination with diverse kinds of heavy metals and metalloids poses a serious threat to the usefulness of the soils for all the living organisms including human beings. Exposure to heavy metals and metalloids severely affects soil quality, capacity, and productivity. Many nations around the globe are now dealing with the serious issues of heavy metal contamination. Humans are also exposed to such heavy metals via the consumption of food products grown in contaminated soil (Hussain 2022; Raffa et al. 2021). The contamination of soil with heavy metals is the key reason for several fatal diseases in humans and can cause serious illness even at a very low concentration also (Fei et al. 2018; Vardhan et al. 2019). Some heavy metals may cause behavioral and neurological abnormalities mainly in children and some other are endocrine disruptors, mutagenic, and some are carcinogenic (Kaur et al. 2023). Due to broad economic development and rapid growth in various fields such as industry, agriculture, and automobile, the environment is polluted alarmingly (Alengebawy et al. 2021). The contamination of soil with heavy metals becomes a relevant problem when the amount of metal is high. It is estimated that around the world, about five million sites of soils are contaminated with heavy metals and metalloids (Raffa et al. 2021).