Abstract:
Soil contamination significantly reduces environmen
tal quality and affects human
health. To investigate and assess the effects of la
nd use on the concentrations of some
heavy metals in surface soils of Golestan province,
227 soil samples (0-60 cm) were
collected from three types of land uses including a
gricultural lands, natural, and
industrial areas. The total metals and metalloids (
Cr, Se, As, Cd, Ni, Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe) were
extracted and their concentrations were measured in
all samples. The results showed that
heavy metals accumulations in soil samples of the i
ndustrial land uses were higher than
agricultural and natural land uses. There was signi
ficant correlation among the soils
heavy metals (more than 30%
for most samples) and also between soil heavy meta
ls and
organic carbon content in different types of land u
ses (average of 40%
). Cluster analysis
revealed that As and Se had the highest concentrati
on values compared to their
corresponding background in most samples and showed
the evidence of anthropic effects.
Various indices including pollution load index (PLI
), modified contamination degree
(mC
d
), and enrichment factor (EF) were used to determin
e the soil contamination level.
The results of PLI and mC
d
,
indicated the higher accumulation of heavy metals a
t
industrial land uses. The enrichment factor of Se a
nd As in soils were higher than the
other metals, however, their values showed that ant
hropogenic activities had not serious
effects on the environment quality in the studied a
rea.
Keywords:
Enrichment factor, Modified contamination degree, P
ollution load index.
