Abstract
The objective of the present study was to investigate metal(loid)s in soils, in the trunk xylem sap and in the leaves of the Dipteryx alata plant located near the highway with high vehicle traffic in agricultural regions and near landfills, and to assess the transfer of metal(loid)s from soil to plant and possible health risk assessment. Trunk xylem sap, leaves and soil samples were collected at three sites near the highway. The analysis of trace elements was carried out using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP OES). In the three soil sampling sites far from the highway edge, 15 elements were quantified. The concentrations of elements in the soil presented in greater proportions in the distance of 5 m in relation to 20 and 35 m. The metal(loid)s content in the study soil was higher than in other countries. The concentrations of Al, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, Se and Zn in the xylem sap were much higher than the leaves. The values of transfer factor of P, Mg and Mn from soil to the xylem sap and transfer factor of P from soil to leaf were greater than 1, indicating that the specie have a significant phytoremediation and phytoextraction potential. This plant has a tendency to accumulate As, Cd and Cr in its leaf tissues. The chronic hazard index (HI) values recorded in this study were above 1 for adults and adolescents. It is concluded that the soil, the trunk xylem sap and leaves of this plant are contaminated by heavy metals. Ingestion of the trunk xylem sap of this plant can cause toxicity in humans if ingested in large quantities and in the long term; therefore, its consumption should be avoided.
Highlights
In the last decades, vehicular traffic has been one of the main causes of air and soil pollution in urban and rural areas
Regarding the concentrations of the quantified elements in the soil (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, P, Se, Zn and Pb), we found a significant difference between the distances from the sampling sites (D1, distances of m (D2) and D3) and the highway, between the distance of 5 m compared to 20 and 35 m (p < 0.05) (Table 1)
When the concentrations of elements in the soil were evaluated in relation to different distances of (5, 20 and 35 m) by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we found that the elements presented higher trends and proportions at the distance of 5 m with 94.61% on the axis 1 and 5.39% on axis 2 (Figure 4)
Summary
Vehicular traffic has been one of the main causes of air and soil pollution in urban and rural areas. There is an association between exposure to soil pollutants and adverse health effects [1,2,3]. Many cars and trucks run on highways and county roads, spreading pollution across several countries. Soil contamination by heavy metals, metalloids, ammonia, nitrate, petroleum hydrocarbons, Int. J.
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