HEAVY METALS POLLUTION OF WHEAT FIELDS (SOIL AND LEAVES) SAMPLED FROM BASRAH AND MAYSAN PROVINCES

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the level of some heavy metals, mainly Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co) in the soil and wheat leaves of some wheat fields in Basra and Maysan province; the sampling areas were Al-Qurna, Al-Madinah, Al-Amara, Kumit, Ali Al-Sharqi, and Ali Al-Gharbi. It was performed the analysis using the Flame Atomic Spectrophotometer. The results indicated an increase in the concentrations of above mentioned these heavy metals in all examined areas; the levels in agricultural soils were found to be exceeding the internationally permissible limits according to EU-2000 standards, the highest levels of pollution were observed at Al- Qurna site with significant differences than other sites for both available and total HMs concentrations in soils. Indicating that the arrangement of the metals according to their available concentrations in the analyzed soil was as follows: lead (21.32 )˃ cobalt (14.63) ˃ chromium (11.06) ˃ cadmium (1.15) as mg/Kg of soil. Additionally, results showed that the highest lead content in the wheat leaves was examined in the Qurna fields (0.175 mg/kg), followed by Amara with a concentration of 0.136 mg/kg. The lowest concentration of lead was observed in wheat leaves in the Kumit fields (0.007 mg/kg). In terms of Cd concentration in wheat leaves, the highest level was observed in Al-Qurna, with a significant difference from other fields, reaching 0.009 mg/kg. The lowest concentration of this HM was recorded in Ali Al-Gharbi, which reached 0.002 mg/kg. The results of the correlation between the available concentration of heavy metals elements and soil characteristics revealed a significant correlation between the soil pH and lead, cadmium, and chromium available concentrations, whereas no correlation with cobalt and a significant correlation between soil EC and lead was observed and a highly significant negative correlation with the cobalt. Results proved the high levels of pollution in all examined areas in Basra and Maysan provinces.