Analysis of Concentration of Heavy Metals in Soil

Abstract

Soil is one of the most important constituent of earth’s ecosystem as it is responsible for the growth of plants, regulates the atmosphere and acts as a habitat for a number of organisms. Soil pollution by hazardous materials such as heavy metals is a serious issue as this toxic material may enter into the food chain and into the ground water through the soil and ultimately into the human beings resulting in serious health issues among them. Dadumajra is a major dumping site of Chandigarh city for disposal of municipal solid waste without any segregation. The aim of this study was to test the soil in the vicinities of the Dadumajra landfill for the concentration of heavy metals copper, zinc, iron and manganese and to compare the concentrations obtained with the concentration of same metals in soil samples collected from four other different parts of the city including park area, highly dense commercial and residential area, industrial area and forest area using ANOVA F–test. The results revealed that the concentration of copper and zinc in soil in the vicinities of Dadumajra landfill have a significant amount of higher concentration as compared to the soil in other parts of the city where as the concentration of iron and manganese in soil of different parts of the city did not show significant variation with the soil of Dadumajra landfill.