Title |
Contamination of soil, medicinal, and fodder plants with lead and cadmium present in mine-affected areas, Northern Pakistan
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Published in |
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, September 2015
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DOI | 10.1007/s10661-015-4807-9 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Javed Nawab, Sardar Khan, Mohammad Tahir Shah, Zahir Qamar, Islamud Din, Qaisar Mahmood, Nayab Gul, Qing Huang |
Abstract |
This study aimed to investigate the lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) concentrations in the soil and plants (medicinal and fodder) grown in chromite mining-affected areas, Northern Pakistan. Soil and plant samples were collected and analyzed for Pb and Cd concentrations using atomic absorption spectrometer. Soil pollution load indices (PLIs) were greater than 2 for both Cd and Pb, indicating high level of contamination in the study area. Furthermore, Cd concentrations in the soil surrounding the mining sites exceeded the maximum allowable limit (MAL) (0.6 mg kg(-1)), while the concentrations of Pb were lower than the MAL (350 mg kg(-1)) set by State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) for agriculture soil. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were significantly higher (P < 0.001) in the soil of the mining-contaminated sites as compared to the reference site, which can be attributed to the dispersion of toxic heavy metals, present in the bed rocks and waste of the mines. The concentrations of Pb and Cd in majority of medicinal and fodder plant species grown in surrounding areas of mines were higher than their MALs set by World Health Organization/Food Agriculture Organization (WHO/FAO) for herbal (10 and 0.3 mg kg(-1), respectively) and edible (0.3 and 0.2 mg kg(-1), respectively) plants. The high concentrations of Cd and Pb may cause contamination of the food chain and health risk. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Mexico | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 57 | 98% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 12 | 21% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 16% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 7% |
Researcher | 3 | 5% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 3 | 5% |
Other | 9 | 16% |
Unknown | 18 | 31% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Environmental Science | 11 | 19% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 8 | 14% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 3 | 5% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 3% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 2 | 3% |
Other | 11 | 19% |
Unknown | 21 | 36% |