Geochemical and environmental investigation of heavy metal contamination in the soils of the urban area of Esfahan

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student, Department of Geology, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran

3 Assistant Professor of Mathematics Department, Chalous Branch, Islamic Azad University, Chalous, Iran

Abstract
In order to investigate urban soil areas of Isfahan for heavy metals, in the summer of 2022 from 23 sampling stations and after preparation, the samples were chemically analyzed by ICPOES method with 4-acid digestion. The soil accumulation index shows that CdA metals have a large consumption rate. The results of the enrichment factor of all metals indicated that the origin of all the metals except Pb, Cd, and As studied in the soil of urban areas was terrestrial and their accumulation was terrestrial. The pollution factor results showed the highest pollution factor for Pb and Cr metals. The results of the pollution load index showed that 8 samples have pollution and 15 samples have no pollution in the soil of the urban areas of esfahan. The results of the study of ecological risk and environmental risk of heavy metals showed that all the studied samples, except for 9 samples for Cd metal and 1 sample for Pb metal, have low ecological risk. Also, the findings of the study of the environmental risk index according to the values obtained for the soil of the urban areas of Isfahan showed that the environmental risk of heavy metals is low. According to the results, it was found that the risk potential of heavy metals in the soil of the studied areas to cancerous and non-cancerous diseases is higher in children than in adults.

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