ندا سیستانی

Human activities cause to the accumulation of heavy metals in soil. Soil pollution will significantly reduce environmental quality and affect human health. This study aimed to determine the concentration of some heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Fe, Zn, Cr and Cd) and evaluate the effects of Kerman steel industry on concentration of soil heavy metals. A total of 60 samples from the surface soil and a depth of 0-15 cm were collected at different distances from Kerman steel complex and analyzed with Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). Some indices of pollution including Contamination factor (Cf), Pollution index (PI), Pollution load index (PLI), Pollution Intensity index (Ipoll), Potential contamination index (Cp) were calculated to assess the levels of soil contamination. The Pearson correlation, principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was used to determine the origin of pollutants. The results were showed the trend of heavy metal concentration in the study area as Fe>Zn>Pb>Ni>Cr>Cd respectively. The maximum of studied indices was related to Pb and then Zn. Pearson correlation was showed that Zn with Cd and Pb with Cr had significant positive correlation. A PCA results of Cf index was stay Zn and Pb in the first cluster. In the other words, these two elements are more human origin. This study showed that the study area does not need to severe remedial action; however, continuous monitoring of environment is essential.

Urban and industrial development has increased concentration of heavy metals in the environment. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of Kerman steel complex on their surrounding soil by heavy metals.
This study was a snapshot and its type was descriptive-analytical research. Heavy metals contents from 60 soil samples (top soil, 0-15 cm) near two Steel Complexes were analyzed using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Source identification and pollution degree indices including enrichment factor (EF) and its percentage (EF%), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (Cf), degree of contamination (Cd) and modified degree of contamination (mCd) were calculated to assess the soil pollution level.
The average concentration of Ni, Zn, Fe, Pb, Cr and Cd were 9.98, 54.38, 15063.33, 20.86, 3.54 and 0.038 mg/kg, respectively. The order of average EF for heavy metals was Pb > Zn> Cd> Fe> Ni> Cr. Cf index also showed that 90% of the samples were moderately to significantly polluted with lead element. The results of EF% indicated that Fe (68.18%) had higher enrichment than others. The average values of Cd and mCd indices were 2.90 and 0.48, respectively, that showed low degree of pollution.
In this study, Pb and Cd concentration were related with activities of the steel complexes and other metals had a combination of natural and anthropogenic emission sources. The steel complexes should plan to reduce pollutants emission to their environment.