The purpose of this study is to determine heavy metal pollution of the agricultural lands and the plants growing in these lands around Antakya-Cilvegözü international highway in Hatay province based on traffic and agricultural activities and also to reveal possible changes of the heavy metal amount in soil and plants with distance to highway. 8 different sampling points are determined considering traffic intensity of the road. Soil (N=64) and plant (N=12) samples are taken from 0-30 cm depth and 25, 100, 500 m away from both right and left side of the particular sampling points of the highway. Heavy metals in the soil are extracted with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) while wet burning method is applied for heavy metal extraction from plants. Measurements are made with Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) instrument.
According to the analyses, the result of soils Pb 0.130-0.780 mg/kg, Cd 0-0.265 mg/kg, Ni 0.370-3.97 mg/kg, Cr 0-0.120 mg/kg, Co 0-1.83 mg/kg, Al 0-0.700 mg/kg, Fe 1.45-22.8 mg/kg, Cu 0.385-5.43 mg/kg, Mn 1.96-27 mg/kg Zn 0-4.26 mg/kg and the result of plants Pb 0-0.155 mg/kg, Cd 0-0.105 mg/kg, Ni 0.100-3.53 mg/kg, Cr 0.0 mg/kg, Co 0.0 mg/kg, Al 0.0 mg/kg, Fe 5.60-25.0 mg/kg, Cu 0.121-4.48 mg/kg, Mn 2.35-15.4 mg/kg, Zn 0.554-6.75 mg/kg were found.
Results of the study shows that datas obtained from soil samples are within the permissible range compared to heavy metal limitations both in Turkey and the World. Heavy metal accumulation is observed in plant samples. However, compared to World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) limitations, it is seen that heavy metal accumulation is within the permissible range. Additionally, it is revealed that heavy metal concentration in soil and plants is decreasing depending on the distance away from highway. This shows that the heavy metal present in soil and plants should be originating from highway.
Journal Section | Articles |
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Publication Date | September 15, 2017 |
Published in Issue | Year 2017 Volume: 32 Issue: 3 |