Heavy metals concentration in surface soils of sewage irrigated areas at Nathnagar block, Bhagalpur district, Bihar, India

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out on “Heavy metals concentration in surface soils of sewage irrigated areas at Nathnagar block, Bhagalpur district, Bihar, India”. Soil is considered as a potential sink for pollutants and also an important means of transmittance for many pollutants to the atmosphere, groundwater and plants (Chen et al., 1997). Heavy metals and metalloids affect human health directly and indirectly as they are non-biodegradable in nature (Wang et al., 2001). The DTPA-micronutrients (DTPA-Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu) of surface soils from sewage irrigated areas have been evaluated and results revealed that DTPA-Fe of sewage irrigated surface soils varied from 10.29 to 28.19 mg kg -1 with mean 3.88 mg kg-1. The DTPA-Mn of sewage irrigated surface soils varied from 0.67 mg kg-1 to 15.08 mg kg-1 with mean 5.30 mg kg-1. The DTPA-Zn and Cu content in surface soil varied from 0.62 mg kg-1 to 3.37 mg kg-1 and 1.01 mg kg-1 to 68.58 mg kg-1 respectively, whereas the As content varied from 0.10 to 0.68 mg kg-1 with mean 0.35 mg kg-1and Cd content varied from 0.08 mg kg -1 to 20.55 mg kg -1 with mean 0.49 mg kg -1. The range of Pb content varied from 0.37 mg kg-1 to 6.83 mg kg-1 with mean 4.03 mg kg-1. Over all it can be concluded that selected surface soil samples accumulate high amount of heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, As, Cd and Pb).