Assessment of Some Heavy Metals Pollution and Bioavailability in Roadside Soil of Alexandria-Marsa Matruh Highway, Egypt

Abstract

To assess the roadside soils contamination with Pb, Cd, and Zn, 34 soil samples were collected along Alexandria-Marsa Matruh highway, Egypt, and analyzed by using the atomic absorption. The contamination with these metals was evaluated by applying index of geoaccumulation ( geo ), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), the single ecological risk index ( ), and the potential ecological risk index (PERI). The average concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Zn were 38.2, 2.3, and 43.4 g/g, respectively.geo indicates the pollution of soil with Pb and Cd as opposed to Zn. shows that the roadside soils had low risk from Pb and Zn and had considerable to high risk from Cd. Most of the samples (62%) present low PERI risk associated with metal exposure and the rest of the samples (38%) are of moderate PERI. The bioavailable fraction (EDTA-Extract) was 72.5 and 37.5% for Pb and Cd contents, respectively. These results indicate the remarkable effect of vehicular and agricultural activities on Pb and Cd contents in soil.

Ecophysiological Responses to Environmental Pollution of Selected Plant Species in an Industrial Urban Area

“…In the collection of the research material, attention was paid to the cleanliness and homogeneity of the samples. Topsoil samples were taken within the root zone at a depth of 0-10 cm and widely used in different environmental studies, for example Dao et al (2014), Polechońska et al (2013), Elnazer et al (2015) and Kandziora-Ciupa et al (2017). To reduce the heterogeneity, topsoil was sampled from five locations at each site (taken from 10 m 9 10 m plots at the central and four corner locations).…”

Evaluation of heavy metal mobility in contaminated soils between Abu Qurqas and Dyer Mawas Area, El Minya Governorate, Upper Egypt

“…Several studies have estimated the total metal contents in polluted and unpolluted soils (Vega et al 2004;Covelo et al 2007;Kierczak et al 2008;Maas et al 2010;Nemati et al 2011;Wali et al 2013, Mohamed et al 2015, Elnazer et al 2015Salman et al 2016;Salman et al 2018;Said et al 2019). However, the total contents of trace metals cannot give enough information about their various forms, mobility, bioavailability, or potential risks to the environment (Davutluoglu et al 2011;Nemati et al 2011).…”

Evaluation of human risks of surface water and groundwater contaminated with Cd and Pb in the southern El-Minya Governorate, Egypt

“…Agricultural activities are considered the most important source of Cd and Pb, where the used super-phosphate fertilizers in the study area contain about 8.5 and 16 ppm Cd and Pb, respectively (Asmoay, 2017). In addition, vehicle exhaust, industrial activities, and urban runoff contribute to a great extent to the pollution of water with these metals (Elnazer et al, 2018).…”

“…Pb is used in many industries, including lead smelting and processing, battery manufacturing, pigments, solder, plastics, cable sheathing, fuels, ammunition, and ceramics. Due to urbanization, Pb and other metals are regularly discharged into fields, water, and soils through sewage sludge, urban runoff, and automobile exhaust (Elnazer et al, 2015). Pb absorbed by the human body disturbs many processes and is harmful to organs such as the heart, bones, and nervous system (Bruce et al, 2012).…”