Source Identification, Ecological Risk and Spatial Analysis of Heavy Metals Contamination in Agricultural Soils of Tanjaro Area, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25079/ukhjse.v5n2y2021.pp18-27

Keywords:

Heavy Metals Source, Ecological Risk Assessment, Soil Pollution, GIS, Kurdistan Region, Heavy Metals

Abstract

The current work accomplished a comprehensive evaluation of heavy metals pollution in soil of agricultural areas from Tanjaro sub-district, Sulaimaniyah province, Kurdistan Region, NE Iraq. Ninety soil samples were collected from thirty different locations. Concentrations of 16 heavy metals were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry ICP-OES. The pollution index (PI), potential ecological risk index (Er), enrichment factor (EF), and ecological risk index (RI) were used to assess the pollution in soil samples. High levels of Li and Ni, and moderate Ba, Cd, Hg, and Pb according to the results of concentration analysis, pollution index (PI), and potential ecological risk (ERI). High levels of Cd and Hg according to the results of Er. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) and principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that heavy metals were generated from different natural and anthropogenic sources like natural weathering, fertilizer application, and transportation. Origins of Hg, Cd, Ni, and Pb are probably from activities like overuse of pesticides and fertilizers, whereas Pb could be exhausted from vehicle exhausts as well. Furthermore, spatial distributions revealed nonpoint source pollution for the studied heavy metals.  The obtained results help in the remediation techniques of contaminated soils such as dilution with decontaminated soil or extraction or separation of heavy metals.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

  • Hayder Mohammed Issa, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Garmian, Sulaimaniyah, KRI, Iraq

    Hayder M. Issa is an assistant professor at University of Garmian, he has completed B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Baghdad, Iraq in 1992 and Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the same University in 1995. The PhD degree is in Process and Environmental Engineering from University of Toulouse III (Université Paul Sabatier), INPT, Toulouse, France, in 2013, and is in the field of mass transfer and flow behavior in water treatment tank. He has academic and research experience related to various topics like plant design, reaction engineering, environmental pollution, oil & gas processing, process modeling & simulation and water quality & treatment.

  • Azad H. Alshatteri, Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Garmian, Sulaimaniyah, KRI, Iraq

    Azad H. Alshatteri is a lecturer at Chemistry Department/ College of Education/ University of Garmian. In 2008, I graduated from the University of Sulaimani. In 2013, he earned an MSc in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Manchester. He is PhD student at the University of Sulaimani. His interesting study subject is concerned with environmental analytical chemistry and bioanalysis. Several studies on water analysis and water quality determination have been published.

References

Adriano, D. C. (2001). Trace elements in terrestrial environments: biogeochemistry, bioavailability and risks of metals (n. edn. Ed.). New York: Springer.
Ahmad, H. S., & Mustafa, O. M. (2008). Nitrate Pollution in Groundwater of Sulaimaniyah City, Kurdistan Region, NE Iraq. Iraqi Bulletin of Geology and Mining, 4(2), 73-82.
Al-Wabel, M. I., Sallam, A. E.-A. S., Usman, A. R. A., Ahmad, M., El-Naggar, A. H., El-Saeid, M. H., et al. (2017). Trace metal levels, sources, and ecological risk assessment in a densely agricultural area from Saudi Arabia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 189(6), 252.
Amjadian, K., Sacchi, E., & Rastegari Mehr, M. (2016). Heavy metals (HMs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils of different land uses in Erbil metropolis, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 188(11), 605.
Baltas, H., Sirin, M., Gökbayrak, E., & Ozcelik, A. E. (2020). A case study on pollution and a human health risk assessment of heavy metals in agricultural soils around Sinop province, Turkey. Chemosphere, 241, 125015.
Cai, L., Xu, Z., Bao, P., He, M., Dou, L., Chen, L., et al. (2015). Multivariate and geostatistical analyses of the spatial distribution and source of arsenic and heavy metals in the agricultural soils in Shunde, Southeast China. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 148, 189-195.
Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME). (2007). Canadian soil quality guidelines for the protection of environmental and human health.
Esmaeilzadeh, M., Jaafari, J., Mohammadi, A. A., Panahandeh, M., Javid, A. & Javan, S. (2019). Investigation of the extent of contamination of heavy metals in agricultural soil using statistical analyses and contamination indices. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 25(5), 1125-1136.
Gong, M., Wu, L., Bi, X.-y., Ren, L.-m., Wang, L., Ma, Z.-d., et al. (2010). Assessing heavy-metal contamination and sources by GIS-based approach and multivariate analysis of urban–rural topsoils in Wuhan, central China. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 32(1), 59-72.
Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control.a sedimentological approach. Water Research, 14(8), 975-1001.
Hou, D., O'Connor, D., Nathanail, P., Tian, L. & Ma, Y. (2017). Integrated GIS and multivariate statistical analysis for regional scale assessment of heavy metal soil contamination: A critical review. Environmental Pollution, 231, 1188-1200.
Huang, Y., Li, T., Wu, C., He, Z., Japenga, J., Deng, M. & Yang, X. (2015). An integrated approach to assess heavy metal source apportionment in peri-urban agricultural soils. Journal of Hazardous materials, 299, 540-549.
Kabata-Pendias, A. (2010). Trace elements in soils and plants (F. ed. Ed.). Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press: Taylor & Francis Group.
Kaur, M., Kumar, A., Mehra, R. & Mishra, R. (2018). Human health risk assessment from exposure of heavy metals in soil samples of Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 11(15), 411.
Keshavarzi, A. & Kumar, V. (2019). Ecological risk assessment and source apportionment of heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils of Northeastern Iran. International Journal of Environmental Health Research, 29(5), 544-560.
Liu, M., Yang, Y., Yun, X., Zhang, M. & Wang, J. (2015). Concentrations, distribution, sources, and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in agricultural topsoil of the Three Gorges Dam region, China. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 187(3), 147.
Ogunkunle, C. O. & Fatoba, P. O. (2014). Contamination and spatial distribution of heavy metals in topsoil surrounding a mega cement factory. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 5(2), 270-282.
Reimann, C., Fabian, K., Birke, M., Filzmoser, P., Demetriades, A., Négrel, P., et al. (2018). GEMAS: Establishing geochemical background and threshold for 53 chemical elements in European agricultural soil. Applied Geochemistry, 88, 302-318.
Simon, E., Vidic, A., Braun, M., Fábián, I. & Tóthmérész, B. (2013). Trace element concentrations in soils along urbanization gradients in the city of Wien, Austria. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 20(2), 917-924.
Sun, Y., Zhou, Q., Xie, X. & Liu, R. (2010). Spatial, sources and risk assessment of heavy metal contamination of urban soils in typical regions of Shenyang, China. Journal of Hazardous materials, 174(1), 455-462.
Sürücü, A., Ahmed, T. K., Günal, E. & Budak, M. (2019). Spatial variability of some soil properties in an agricultural field of Halabja City of Sulaimani Governorate, Iraq. Fresenius Environment Bulletin, 28(1), 193-206.
Tóth, G., Hermann, T., Da Silva, M. R. & Montanarella, L. (2016). Heavy metals in agricultural soils of the European Union with implications for food safety. Environment International, 88, 299-309.
Trujillo-González, J. M., Torres-Mora, M. A., Keesstra, S., Brevik, E. C. & Jiménez-Ballesta, R. (2016). Heavy metal accumulation related to population density in road dust samples taken from urban sites under different land uses. Science of the Total Environment, 553, 636-642.
UNEP. (2013). Environmental risks and challenges of anthropogenic metals flows and cycles. A report of the working group on the global metal flows to the international resource panel. . In R. Salminen, M. Eckelman, G. Mudd, T. H. R. Norgate & E. Van der Voet (Eds.): UNEP, IRP.
Wedepohl, K. H. (1995). The composition of the continental crust. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 59(7), 1217-1232.
Zheng-Qi, X., Shi-Jun, N., Xian-Guo, T. & Cheng-Jiang, Z. (2008). Calculation of Heavy Metals' Toxicity Coefficient in the Evaluation of Potential Ecological Risk Index [J]. Environmental Science & Technology, 2(8), 31.
Zhong, T., Chen, D. & Zhang, X. (2016). Identification of Potential Sources of Mercury (Hg) in Farmland Soil Using a Decision Tree Method in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(11), 1111.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-28

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 2 (2021): ISSUE 9

Section

Research Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

How to Cite

Source Identification, Ecological Risk and Spatial Analysis of Heavy Metals Contamination in Agricultural Soils of Tanjaro Area, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. (2021). UKH Journal of Science and Engineering, 5(2), 18-27. https://doi.org/10.25079/ukhjse.v5n2y2021.pp18-27