Assessing heavy metal contamination of road side soil in urban area
Abstract
Environmental pollution of heavy metals from automobiles has attained much attention in the recent past. The pollution of soil by heavy metals is a serious environmental issue. Heavy metals are released during different operations of the road transport such as combustion, component wear, fluid leakage and corrosion of metals lead, cadmium, copper and zinc which are the major metal pollutants of the road side environment. The present research is conducted to study heavy metal contamination in road side and industrial soil of Madurai city. The soil samples are collected from three sites and analyzed for six heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni and Cd). Their concentration and distribution in different depths (0 cm, 5 cm and 10 cm) were determined. Heavy metal contents were analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The studies with Enrichment Factor (EF) indicate that lead has been enriched to quite great extent while the Normalized Scatter Coefficient values (NSC) indicate faster enrichment of cadmium. The level of heavy metals in road side soils were higher as compared to their natural background levels. The results revealed that the heavy metals are harmful to the road side vegetation, wild life and the neighbouring human settlements.
References
Burgess TM, Webster R, Mc Bratney AB. 1981. Optimal sampling and isarithmic mapping of soil properties, IV-Sampling strategy. Journal of Soil Sciences 32:102-1032.
Committee of Soil Standard Methods for Analyses and Measurements. 1986. Soil Standard Methods for Analyses and Measurements. Hakuyusha, Tokyo, Japan.
Govil PK, Reddy GLN, Krishna AK. 2001. Contamination of soil due to heavy metals in Patancheru industrial development area, Andhra Pradesh, India. Environmental Geology 41:145-150.
Jarup L. 2003. Hazards of heavy metal contamination. Brazilian Medical Bulletin 68:425-462.
Michalke B. 2003. Element speciation definition, analytical methodology, and some examples, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 56:122-139.
Pekey H, Karakas D, Ayberk S. 2004. Ecological Risk Assessment Using Trace Elements from surface Sediments of Izmit Bay (Northeastern Marmara Sea) Turkey. Marine Pollution Bulletin 48:946-953.
Romic M, Romic D. 2003. Heavy metal distribution in agricultural top soils in urban area. Environmental Geology 43(7):795-805.
Sarala thambavani D and vathana.m. 2012. “Ambient concentration of suspended particulate matter and manganese in urban area of Madurai city”. Journal of Research in Biology.2(1): 001-006.
Sayadi MH, Sayyed MRG. 2010. Comparative assessment of baseline concentration of the heavy metals in the soils of Chitgar industrial area Tehran (Iran) with the comprisable reference data. EnvironmentalEarth Science, DOI 10.1007/s 12665-010-0792-z.
Sayadi MH. 2009. Impact of heavy metal pollution of soils in Chitgar industrial area, Tehran, Disseration, University of Pune.
Silva ALO, Barrocas PRG, Jacob SC, Moreira JC. 2005. Dietary intake and health effects of selected toxic elements. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 17:79-93.
Subramanian V and Datta dilip K. 1998. Distribution and fractionation of heavy metals in the surface sediment of the Gangae - Brahmaputra-Meghna river system in the Bengal basin.Environmental Geology 36(1-2):93-101.
Turer D and Maynard JB. 2003. Heavy metal contamination in highway soils. Comparison of Corpus Christi, TX and Cincinnati, OH shows organic matter is key to mobility. Clean Technology and Environmental Policy 4:235-245.
Zhang LP, Ye X, Feng H. 2007. Heavy metal contamination in Western Xiamen Bay Sediments and its Vicinity, China. Marine Pollution Bulletin 54(7):974-982.
