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

Abstract EN

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 (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), the single ecological risk index (Ei), and the potential ecological risk index (PERI).

The average concentrations of Pb, Cd, and Zn were 38.2, 2.3, and 43.4 μg/g, respectively.

Igeo indicates the pollution of soil with Pb and Cd as opposed to Zn.

Ei 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.