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Heavy metal pollution in soil

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 Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri
Division of Agril. Chemistry and Soil Science
College of Agriculture, Pune-05
Course Title :ACSS 505 ( 0+1 ) Seminar A. Manikandan
Research Guide : Dr. R.N. Adsule Reg. No. : 04/223
Date: 2nd Dec 2005
Seminar
Topic : Heavy metal pollution in soil

Abstract
Environmental pollution, especially by chemicals, is one of the most important
factors in the destruction of biosphere components.
Heavy metals remain in the soil for a long time and have a residence time
ranging from a few to several hundred years (Kabata-Pendias, 1995). Rattan et al.
(1999) reported that environmental pollution due to heavy metals could broadly be
grouped as (i) deficiency of micronutrient cations and (ii) toxicity of the heavy metals.
Bansal et al. (1992) stated that surface layers of the soil may accumulate large
amounts of heavy metals, which subsequently affect sensitive plants growing in the
soil. Palaniswami et al. (1996) studied that heavy metals pollution in and around
Hyderabad city. Heavy metals viz., Cd, Hg, Pb, Cr, Co, Mo, Sb and Ba were analysed
along with PH and EC. They compared the levels of these heavy metals with WHO
permissible limits. Almost all heavy metals including EC values were higher than the
permissible limits of WHO.
Rattan et al. (2002) reported that poisoning in West Bengal and adjonining
Bangladesh was through consumption of arsenic contaminated ground water. Larger
accumulation of arsenic in soils has led to the realization on the part of researchers to
generate information for developing cost-effective agro-technologies for alleviating
metal toxicity in environment. Cadmium availability in soil may be influenced by the
2+
application of other metallic cations like Zn and Cu2+ (Das, 1996). Chemical
remediation of the metal-polluted soils involving the use of lime, phosphatic
fertilizers and oxides of Mn and Fe among others remain, the cost-effective options
(Rattan et al., 2002).
Phytoremediation, although looking attractive, is too slow (Rattan et al.,
2000). The most effective strategy will have to be the one of adopting preventive
measures rather than for the cure of the metal-polluted soils, because the later will not
be either economical or practically feasible. Therefore soil scientists must devote a
fair share of their research efforts to environmental quality problems.
Literature cited :
Bansal,R.L., Nayar,V.K.and Takkar,P.N. 1992. Effect of heavy metals on soil
horizon. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 40: 796-794.
Das,D.K. 1996. Soil and water pollution. In Introductory Soil Science. Kalyani
Publishers, New Delhi.:pp 444-452
Kabata –Pendias, A.1995. Trace elements in soils and plants, CRC Press, Inc. Boca
Raton, Florida, USA.: pp 3-18
Palaniswami,C., and Sree Ramulu,U.S.1994. Effect of continuous irrigation with
paper factory effluent on soil properties. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 42 : 139-140.
Poornima,K.2004. Heavy metal pollution near industry of Ukkadam, Coimbatore .
M.Sc.Thesis submitted to T.N.A.U,Coimbatore.
Rattan, R.K., Datta, S.P. and Chhonkar, P.K. 2000, Annual Report on the ICAR AP
Cess Fund Scheme on Heavy metals in sewage effluent –irrigated soils and
their utilization by crops, Division of Soil Science and Agril.
Chemistry,IARI,New Delhi.
Rattan, R.K., Datta S.P. and Suresh Chandra, 2002. Heavy metals and environmental
quality. Fert. News 47 (11) : 21-40.
 Heavy metal pollution in soil
A. Manikandan

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
1.1 Pollution
1.2 Kinds of pollution
1.3 Pollutants
1.4 Heavy metals
1.5 Heavy metal cycle
1.6 Critical limits of heavy metals
1.6.1 Soil
1.6.2 Irrigation water
1.6.3 Plant
2. Sources of heavy metals in soil
2.1 Diagram heavy metals pollution sources
2.2 Geogenic Accumulation
2.3 Anthropogenic Accumulation
2.3.1 Sewage sludge
2.4 Fertilizers
2.5 Rain water
2.6 Other sources
3 Effect of heavy metals on soil
3.1 Mobility of heavy metals in soil
3.2 Methods to immobilize the metals in soil
4. Effect of heavy metals on plants
4.1 Uptake of heavy metals in plants
5 Conclusion
 Heavy metal pollution in soil
A.Manikandan

1. Introduction
Human’s impact on biosphere has been very broad and complex, and most
often has led to irreversible changes resulting in degradation of the natural
environment. Environmental pollution, especially by chemicals, is one of the most
important factors in the destruction of biosphere components. Among all the
chemical contaminants, heavy metals are believed to be of a specific ecological,
biological or health significance.
Metal use accelerated during the industrial revolution of 19th century and since
then heavy metals have become ‘essential’ to modern society because of the range of
metal products used. Energy and mineral consumption by human is the main cause of
heavy metal pollution in the biosphere.
1.1 Pollution:
Pollution is a change in the characteristics of the air, water, soils, and food that
can adversely affect the health, survival (or) activities of humans (or) living
organisms (Miller, 1991).
The introduction by man into the environment of substances (or) energy liable
to cause hazards to human health, harm to living resources and ecological systems,
damage to structures (or) amenity, (or) interference with the legitimate uses of
environment (Hooda, 1997).
Pollution is on undesirable change in the physical, chemical (or) biological
characteristics of air, water and soil that may harmfully affect the life (or) create a
potential health hazard of any living organism (Collin and Walker, 1971).
1.2 Kinds of pollution:
Basis of environmental being polluted (Das, 1996)
a) Air pollution
b) Water pollution
c) Land (soil) pollution
d) Marine pollution
1.3 Pollutants:
Any substance which causes pollution in called a pollutant.
Pollutant is defined as any soild, liquid, (or) gaseous, substance present in
such concentration as may be (or) tend to be injurious to the environment.
The United Nations Environment Pollutants (UNEP) document the order of
priority of different pollutants.(Table 1)
Table -1 Order of priority of pollutants
Sr. Order of priority Medium
1. SO2 + suspended particle Sr,Ce Air, food
2 O3, DDT, Cl - compounds Air, Biota, Man
3. NO3 (s), NO2 (s), N2O Drinking water, Air
4. Hg (s) compounds, Pb, Co Food, water, Air
5. Petroleum hydrocarbons, Co Sea, Air
6. F- Water (fresh)
7. Asbestos ,As Air, Drinking water
8. Mycotoxins, Microbial contaminants Food
(Das, 1996)
On the basis oF kind of pollution, the pollutants are classified in to
1) SO2 2) F 3) Co 4) Smoke 5) Pb 6) Hg
There are 2 basic types of pollutants.
A) Non degradable pollutants eg: Aluminium cans, Mercuric salts, DDT.
B) Degradable pollutants eg: Domestic wastes.
1.4 Heavy metals:
Heavy metals are the toxic metals and metalloids having density of more than
6 Mg m-3 (or) 5g/cc and atomic weight more than of iron (Alloway, 1990).
In this, 76 trace elements [micronutrient cations] viz., Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Ni
[which exhibit both deficiencies and toxicity] and other metals viz., Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg,
Se, As have been referred as the heavy metals.
Basis of poisonous elements are classified in to (Table 2)
Table -2 Poisonous of elements
Element Poisonous
Cd, As Extremely
Hg, Pb, Ni Moderately
Cu, Zn, Mn Lower
(Das, 1996)
 In Europe maximum allowable levels (MAL) of metals in soil have been fixed
as a preventive strategy. (Table 3)
Table – 3 Values of maximum allowable limits (MAL) for heavy
metals in soils used in different countries (mg kg-1)
Element Austria Canada Poland Japan Britain Germany
Cd 5 8 3 - 3 2
Co 50 25 50 50 - -
Cr 100 75 100 - 50 200
Cu 100 100 100 125 100 50
Ni 100 100 100 100 50 100
Pb 100 200 100 400 100 500
Zn 300 400 300 250 300 300
(Kabata-Pendias, 1995)

India has to develop the same. In India, Selinium- toxic soils in Northern-
Western parts of Punjab and as poisoning cases from parts of west -Bengal have led to
the intensification on cataloguing identification of sources, inflicting damage of the
Indian environment.
Environmental pollution due to heavy metals could broadly be grouped as
being due to
i) Deficiency of micronutrient cations
ii) Toxicity of the heavy metals including micrountrient cations of major
environmental concern.
Attempt has been made in this seminar to collate information on and critically
analyze different facets of heavy metal pollution in soils of India.
1.6 Critical limits of heavy metals:
1.6.1. Soil:
The maximum allowable level (MAL) of heavy metals in soil given by
different countries varies (Table 4).
Table-4 Maximum allowable level (MAL) of trace element is soil (mg kg-1)
Elements Austria Pollution Germany European communities USA
1977 1993 1992 1986 1993
Cd 5 1-3 1.5 1-3 20
Cr 100 50-80 100 100 150
Pb 100 70-150 100 50-300 150
Ni 75 50-80 80 75 75
(Pendias and Pendias, 2001)
1.6.2. Irrigation water:
The maximum allowable level of heavy metals in irrigation water is given by
National Acadamey of Science (1972).
Table-5 Recommended maximum concentration of trace metals in irrigation
water (mg L-1)
Heavy metals Concentration of metals (mg L-1)
Long term irrigation Short term irrigation
Cd 0.01 0.05
Cr 0.1 -
Pb 5.0 20.0
Ni 0.2 1.0
(Gupta, 2004)
1.6.3. Plant:
A survey was conducted to estimate critical levels of 30 metals. They stated
the other elements and developing plant resistance to higher tissue concentration of
metals (Manicol and Beckett, 1985).(Table 6)
Table-6 Critical concentration of heavy metals in plant tissues (ppm)

Elements Level of growth depression

In sensitive plant species For 10% yield reduction
Cd 5-10 10-20
Cr 1-2 1-10
Pb 10 10-20
Ni 5-10 10
(Kabata-Pendias, 1995)
2. Sources of heavy metals in soil:
Heavy metals are introduced in the environment through natural (geogenic) as
well as anthropogenic sources. While parent rocks and metallic minerals dominate
the natural sources, the anthropogenic sources ranges from agriculture (fertilizers,
animal manures, pesticides, etc), metallurgy (mining, melting, metal finishing, etc)
and energy production (leaded gasoline, battery manufacture, power plants, etc.). The
pollutants can be released in gaseous (aerosol), particulate, aqueous (or) solid form
depending on the industry. They can emanate from point (or) diffuse sources. Point
sources emission of large metal industries can cause large-scale contamination of land
(Poornima, 2004).
2.2 Geogenic Accumulation:
Parent material a geogenic source is responsible for accumulation of heavy
metals in soils and nature of parent material is responsible for the differential levels of
these metals in soils. (Table 7)
Table-7 Micronutrient contents (mg kg -1) of some rocks
Rock Zn Cu Fe Mn
Igneous- granite 50 8 32000 476
Metamorphic-green schist 95 57 90000 1200
Sedimentary- sand stone 2 8 1000 170
(Katyal and sharma, 1991)
2.3 Anthropogenic Accumulation:
Anthropogenic sources of trace metals include metal smelting industries,
industrial effluents, sewage sludges, municipal solid wastes, burning of fossil fuels,
rain water etc. (Table 8)
2.3((i) Sewage sludge:
Waste water generated from the industries acts as the carrier as well as
prominent source of heavy metals in environment.
Estimates made by Rao and Shantaram (1971) showed that 29 million tonnes
of solid wastes were generated annually by 240 million people residing in the urban
India at an average of 0.33 kg per capita per day. (Table 9), (Table 10)
Table-8 Global emissions of trace metals in to atmosphere,water and soil (in 1000
metric tonnes/year)
Element Air Water Soil
Zn 132 226 1372
Cu 35 112 954
Mn 38 262 1670
Mo 3.3 11 88
Cd 7.6 9.4 22
Pb 332 138 796
Ni 56 113 325
Hg 3.6 4.6 8.3
As 18.8 41 82
An 3.5 18 26
Se 3.8 41 41
Va 86 12 132
(Niragu,1988)
Table-9 Heavy metal composition of sewage sludge
Heavy metal Conc (Dry wt.) in mg kg-1
Min. Max. Median
Cd 3 3410 260
Cr 10 99000 890
Pb 13 19770 560
Ni 2 3515 82
(Sharma, 2003)

Table-10 Heavy metal contents in sewage sludge from different

cities in India
Location Heavy metal contents (mg kg-1)
Zn Cu Cd Pb Ni Cr
Ahmedabad 2147 535 3.5 76.8 32.3 60.4
Delhi 1610 440 5.5 34.5 815 53.5
Nagpur 832 272 1.5 24.3 14.8 49.2
Chennai 435 210 8.3 16.6 60.5 38.5
Jaipur 1720 265 7.3 66.4 37.5 176
Kolkata 1513 188 3.3 157 266 1467
Coimbatore 872 260 8.1 18.2 50.5 38.7
(Poornima, 2004)
The domestic and industrial sewage sludges are also potential sources of trace
elements. Heavy metal content is sludges vary greatly with the nature of the sewage
generating industries. (Table 11)
Table-11 Heavy Metal contents (mg kg-1) in sludges originated from various

sources

Source Zn Cu Fe Mn Cd Pb Co Ni Cr Hg

Transport-vehicle 3990 313 5550 890 1.1 157 23 152 19 105

manufacturing
workshop
Demestic sewage 2940 215 12690 380 1.8 3 5.9 95 25 -
treatment plant
Pharmacetical 1450 82 3260 490 2.1 13 12 30 7.7 -
company
Gobargas plant 2850 57 5500 340 - - 7.5 11 2.3 -
Spentwash treatment 2280 234 16900 400 - 5 19.8 104 34.8 85
plant
Pulp and paper mill 5385 28 4160 - 0.7 2.5 9.3 8.8 1.0 -
Dairy 4630 68 7790 720 1.7 12 8.9 23 6.7 -
Automobile 37525 132 21325 416 4.3 62 3.1 228 185 1.4
(Rajurkar, 1997)
A comparison of metal contents in sludges with the permissible limits (Table)
revealed that all the potentially toxic elements were within permissible limits with
exceptions of Zn and Hg.(Table 12)
Table-12 Permissible levels (mg kg-1) for potential toxic elements in
sludge
Element Recommended Mandatory
Zn 2500 3000
Cu 1000 1500
Cd 20 40
Pb 750 1000
Ni 300 400
Cr 750 -
Hg 16 -
(Commission of European Communities, 1982)
 Heavy metal contents of sewage effluents emanating from Howrah sewage
treatment plant followed the order Zn > Pb > Cd > Cr > Hg ( Figure 3)
2.4 Fertilizers
It is a non point source contamination that is drained from agricultural fields
phosphate containing fertilizers contained elevated level of Cd and Pb compared to
the other materials. The concentration of As, Cd and Pb in ZnSO4 have been reported
to be highly variable, ranging between 0.295, 0.233, 0.1430 mgkg-1 respectively.
(Smilde and Van Lint ,1983).(Table 13) To the best of our knowledge, not even a
single case of metal toxicity in agricultural land due to application of either fertilizers
(or) soil amendments has been reported in India.
Table 13. As, Cd, Pb concentrations (mg/kg-1) in selected inorganic commercial
fertilizers and soil amendments sold in California
Material Fertilizer As Cd Pb
grade 
Liming materials
Limestone - 2.2 6.2 30
Gypsum - 1.3 0.9 4.4
Phosphate fertilizers
Triple super 0-20-0 4.8 110 2.0
phosphate
Mono ammonium 11-23-0 8.1 74.1 2.6
phosphate
Diammonium 18-20-0 4.9 38.1 4.0
phosphate

Other fertilizers
Muriate of potash 0-0-50 0.4 0.8 3.3
Urea 46-0-0 0 0 0
Zinc sulphate - 2.6 32.3 203
 - % N, P and K by weight (California Dept. of Food and Agri, 1998)
2.5 Rain water
Rain waters near industrial area also contain trace metals. Concentrations of
Cd, Pb and Cu in rain water samples collected from Deonar, Mumbai. which is in
close, vicinity to thermal power station, fertilizer plant and petroleum refineries
-1
ranged from 0.05 to 0.2, 0.035 to 3.2, and 0.5 to 19.7 ug L respectively. By and
large, the concentrations of these metals in light rain were much higher than those in
the rain waters collected from the torrential spells of rains (Table 14).
Table-14 Heavy metal contents is rain water of Deonour (Mumbai)
during Aug-Sep 1982
Rainfall Concertration (ug L-1) Deposition (ug m-2)
(mm) Cd Pb Cu Cd Pb Cu
51.3 0.05 0.40 0.70 2.6 20.5 1010.6
42.3 0.10 0.90 2.00 4.20 38.1 84.6
42.3 0.05 0.35 0.50 2.10 14.8 21.6
25.6 0.05 1.15 3.05 1.30 29.4 78.1
21.7 0.20 1.35 2.40 1.10 24.3 52.1
4.0 0.05 2.75 5.50 1.80 20.2 44.5
7.0 0.10 1.55 6.00 0.35 10.9 42.5
5.1 0.10 0.65 6.70 0.50 3.30 42.0
5.1 0.05 1.65 3.50 0.26 8.40 34.2
17.4
3.2 0.10 3.20 10.00 0.32 10.20 32.0
1.4 0.10 2.1 10.40 0.20 4.0 20.7
(Ashwa, 1985)
2.6 Other sources
The main pollutant along road ways is lead, even though the concentration of
Pb rarely exceeds the maximum allowable limit in the polluted area. It is also
reported that other metals have shown distribution consistent with traffic emission
was Cd, Cu, and Zn (Vidic et al., 1997); (Niragu, 1974) (Table 15)
Table-15 World wide natural and anthropogenic emission of heavy
metals
Emission Period Heavy metal emission ( 103 tonnes)
Cd Ni Pb
Natural Annual 0.83 36 24
Anthropogenic Annual 7.3 47 450
Total 3.16 1000 19600
(Niragu, 1974)
3. Effect of heavy metals on soil
Heavy metals in the solid phase of sewage treated soils occurs in many forms.
These include normal exchange sites, specific adsoption sites, occluded or adsorbed –
onto soil oxide materials, biological residues and living organisms and substituted into
primary and secondary minerals. However, even with high rates of element addition
to the soil with the sewage sludge, little movement of any element(Cu, Cr, Pb, Ni, Cd
and Zn) was found beyond of 30 cm depth .Two implications may be drawn from this
1) Lower horizon of the soil and thus lower ground water may not be readily
contaminated by heavy metals.
2) Surface layers of the soil may accumulate large amounts of heavy metals, which
subsequently affect sensitive plants growing in the soil (Boswell, 1975).
According to the Bansal et al. (1992) heavy metal pollution of soils in and
around Hyderabad reveals that Cd, Hg, Pb, Cr, Co, Mo, Sb and Ba were higher the
permissible limits of WHO. King (1988) studied the retention of metals by several
soils of the south eastern USA relative retentions of metals by soil were in the order
Pb> Sb> Cu> Cr> Zn>> Ni> Co> Cd. The results of this study indicated that Fe
oxides and clay content would be better parameters for use in soils of south eastern
USA.
Table 16 Total micronutrients and heavy metal status (mg kg-1) in soils receiving
sewage sludge, sewage and industrial effluents
Source Zn Cu Fe Mn Cd Pb CD Ni Cr
Durgapur 309 42 - - 6.1 180 - - -
industrial
effluents
Hyderabad 98 35 5508 283 0.7 99 5 5.4 34
fresh
garbage
Kolkata 1185 180 20298 417 3.9 428 37 55.6 134
sewage
effluents
Patna 326 101 30200 446 1.6 86 - - -
sludge
Ludhiana - - - - 1 - 24 44 -
sewage
effluents
(Sakal, 1992)
Table 17 Extractable micronutrients and heavymetal status (mg kg-1) in soils as
affected by sewage effluents, sludges, and garbage application
Source Zu Cu Fe Mn Cd Pb Cd Ni Cr As Hg
Avaniya 10.6 6.9 32.3 37.0 0.20 5.7 0.4 6.9 2.7 - -
puram
Howrah ( 19.4 - - - 0.02 1.8 - - 0.60 - ND
Hyderabad 6.8 10.9 16.2 16.0 0.14 10.5 0.4 0.46 0.54 - -
IARI 5.0 3.3 23.3 12.1 - 2.2 - 0.40 - - -

Jalandhar 14.7 4.2 39.7 18.9 - - - 1.27 1.72 2.09 -

Kolkata 281 36 115.0 24.0 0.45 104.3 1.8 9.45 12.5 - -
Ludhiana 4.4 5.5 36.0 10.9 0.07 1.9 - 0.37 0.57 1.02 0.51
Materkotta 5.6 2.5 11.0 7.9 0.04 1.4 - 0.32 0.36 0.56 0.38
Patna 11.4 14.5 54.9 19.4 0.21 10.2 - - - - -
Samrala 1.7 2.2 17.0 8.9 0.06 1.2 - 0.42 0.39 0.77 0.61
Ukkadam 10.4 9.7 28.5 37.0 0.20 6.3 0.5 14.60 3.80 - -
(Poornima, 2004)
3.1 Mobility of heavy metals in soil
Longterm application of raw sewage water may cause metal accumulation in
soils. Thus the uptake of heavy metals by plants is governed of their concentration
and mobility in the soil solution.
Wiger et al. (1999) studied the heavy metal accumulation and mobility in soils
as affected by sewage irrigation of crops. They reported that the content of total Zn,
Mn, Fe, Cu, Pb, Ni and Cd in soils irrigated with tube well sneered with depth while
sewage irrigated soils showed a reverse trend. The lesser amounts at the lower depth
indicated that major part of the metals in sewage was retained by the surface soil.
Decreasing soil pH conditions increase the solubilization of metals shown the soil
profiles (Emmerich et al., 1982; Welch and Lund,1987).
3.2 Methods to immobilize the metals in soil
In Situ immobilization treatment methods typically reduce the mobility and
bioavailability of the target contaminant by redirecting solid phase speciation in
favour of less labile phase either through preferential sorption (or) contaminant
precipitation.
 Incubation study was conducted as Pb contaminated soils (2000 mg kg-1) for
30 days and addition of the high Fe compost reduced the bio availability of soil Pb
(in both in vivo and in vitro) by 37% and 43% respectively.(Poornima,2004)
It was indicated that addition of 100 kg-1 of Fe and Mn biosolids composts
effectively reduced Pb availability in high Pb urban soil (Brown et al., 2003).
Bolan et al. (2003) investigated 7 organic amendments (biosolid compost,
FYM, fish manure, horse manure, spent mushroom; pig manure, and poultry manure)
and their effects on the reduction of hexavalent chromium [Chromate Cr (VI)] in a
mineral soil, low in organic matter content. In batch absorption experiment the
concentration of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) in the equilibrium soil solution decreased from
60 mgL-1 to 53.14 and 55.65 mg L-1, respectively for the contaminated soil and the
decrease being in soils treated with biosolids compost followed by poultry manure
and pig manure.
Seaman et al. (2003) conducted a batch experiment to evaluate the ability of
various forms of phytate, the hexaphosphoric from of myo – inositol to immobilize
Ni, and other inorganic contaminants in soils. The solubility of several metals (eg.
Pb, Cu) increased with increasing Na12 – 1p6 when compared with the non-amended
control. Immobilization was observed at the higher rates, demonstrating the
importance of metal ligand ratio.
Amalraj (2004) reported that uptake of Ni was maximum at lower pH (pH <
4.5) for different influent Ni concentrations.
4. Effect of heavy metals on plants
A particular concern has been generated over the possibility of toxic elements,
especially Pb and Cd, which cause more insidious problems for humans and animals
due to their accumulation in food plants. Heavy metals in soils are associated with
various chemical forms which are related to their solubility, directly bear on the
mobility and biological activity of heavy metals in soluble form.
Crops are one of the principle sinks for accumulation of the heavy metals and
these metal contaminated edible portions act as the poisons for the human beings and
other living organisms. Heavy metals concentration (except that of Zn) was very low
(Poornima, 2004).
Table-18 Heavy metal contents (mg kg-1) in leaves of veg. grown on sewage
irrigated soils around Howrah
Veg Pb Zn Hg Cd Cr
Sunflower 0.6 91 ND Tr 0.2
Mustard Tr 100 ND 0.01 0.5
Spinach Tr 79 ND Tr 2.4
Gourd 0.4 62 ND Tr tr
Radish 0.3 36 ND Tr 0.3
Mung Tr 22 ND Tr tr
Tr. : Traces ND : Not detectable (Som, 1994)
Khan and Khan (1983) studied the effect of Cd and Pb on dry matter yield of
tomato and egg plant in a greenhouse experiments. The results showed the beneficial
effects of Pb and Cd at their lower doses and toxicity at higher levels. The threshold
concentration (C10), toxicity index (T10) and loading rate to produce was calculated.
These values suggested that tomato is more tolerant than egg plant for heavy metals
whose toxicity was found in the order of Cd > Pb in both the plants.
Table-19 Values for threshold concentration (C10), Toxicity in (T10) at C10 and
loading rate that would produce C10 of Pb and for plants
Heavy Threshold conc. (C10) Toxicity index (T10) Loading rate to
metals (ppm) (% inhibition /ppm) produce C10 (ppm)
Tomato Egg plant Tomato Egg plant Tomato Egg plant
Pb 6.88 5.13 3.65 11.42 135.0 105.0
Cd 2.00 1.38 23.00 50.66 4.8 3.2
(Khan and Khan, 1983)
Table-20 Heavy metal contents of crops grown on sewage effluent irrigated
soils of IARI farm, (mg kg-1)
Crops Zn Cu Fe Mn Ni Pb
Citrus 21.6 10.3 789 85 85 ND
Chilli 46.0 21.1 1082 103 8.4 10.7
Brinjal 44.2 29.6 1843 101 4.3 15
Brinjal hybrid 47.2 24.1 1686 101 4.3 12.5
Carrot 24.4 14.2 1437 82 7 ND
Bottle gourd 55.0 28.3 2874 97 8.7 19
Radish 38.0 22.0 1478 133 7.8 2.5
Rose 28.3 11.7 837 56 5.0 7.3
CLP 150- 20-100 7500 75 750 720
200
ND : Not detectable C L P : Critical Limit of Phytotoxicity (Datta, 2000)
 Metal accumulation was more in edible than that of non-edible parts of plants
grown on industrially contaminated soils (Rattan et al., 2002). (Figure 4)
4.1 Uptake of heavy metals in plants
The accumulation of toxic metals trace in crops is receiving a great deal of
attention uptake of trace by a plant is coupled to a chemiosmotic, process across the
membranes of active root cells. Translocation from roots to other parts will depend
on the speciation of metal in xylem and phloem.
Dahiya et al. (1987)studied the effect of FYM on dry matter yield and nutrient
uptake by maize. In pot culture experiment, Cd was found to reduce the plant growth
even at an initial level of 125 ppm and no growth was observed at 1000 ppm of Cd
without FYM.The FYM increased the dry matter yield significantly whereas Cd
concentration decreased the concentration of P, K and Na.
Table-21 Heavymetal contents in various plants grown on
Industrially polluted soils of Durgarpur industrial Belt
Name plant Physical Heavymetal content (mg kg-1)
appearance Zn Cu Cd Pb
Potato N 530 77 8 48
Onion V 500 68 2 93
Cabbage E,P 160 41 5 53
Cauliflower P 510 88 3 11
coriander E,S 200 84 3 78
Spinach N 220 87 6 166
Cleorodendron N 330 70 4 75
Palak N 170 55 2 85
Ch. album N 40 10 1 27
Cyprus rotundus N 140 34 2 88
Eupatorium N 100 9 3 73
oderatum
Cynodon S 2100 93 2 72
dectylon
Crotones S 260 40 3 245
Polygonium N 270 55 1 47
N-Normal, U-Unhealthy, E-Earlygrowth, P-Poorgrowth, S– Stuntedgrowth
(Barman, 1994)
5. Conclusion:
1) Chemical remediation of the metal-polluted soils involving use of lime,
phosphatic fertilizers, and oxides of Mn and Fe among others remains, the
cost-effective option. Phytoremediation, although looking attractive, is too
slow.
2) The most effective strategy will have to be the one of adopting preventive
measures rather than for the cure of the metal-polluted soils, because the later
will not be either economical (or) practically feasible, for that soil scientistists
must devote a fair share of their research effort to environmental quality
problems .
To gain a better understanding of how soils might be used and yet protected in
waste management efforts, soil scientists must devote a fair share of their
research effort to environmental quality problems.
References :

1. Ashwa, S.C., J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 34: 619 – 621 (1985).

2. Bansal,R.L., Nayar,V.K.and Takkar,P.N. 1992. Effect of heavy metals on soil

horizon. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 40: 796-794.

3. Barman, S.C., J. Environ. Biol. 15 : 107 – 115 (1994).

4. California Dept. of Food and Agri. Deve. of risk – based concentrations for

As, Cd and Pb in inorganic commercial fertilizers, prepared by Foster Wheller

Environmental Corporation, Sacramento, CA (1998).

5. Commission of the European Communities. Proposal for a Council of

Directives on Use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture, Off. J. Europ. Comm. pp.

3 – 7 (1982).

6. Das,D.K. 1996. Soil and water pollution. In Introductory Soil Science.

Kalyani Publishers, New Delhi.:pp 444-452

7. Gupta, I.C., Curr. Agric. 16 : 59 – 62 (2004).

8. Kabata –Pendias, A.1995. Trace elements in soils and plants, CRC Press, Inc.

Boca Raton, Florida, USA.: pp 3-18

9. Katyal, J.C. and Sharma, B.D., Geoderma, 49 : 165 – 179 (1991).

10. Miller, G.T., Environmental Science : Sustaining the Earth. Wadswarth

Publishing, Bel mont, C.A. (1991).

11. Niragu, Jerome O., Environ. Pollut. 50 : 134 – 161 (1988).

12. Palaniswami,C., and Sree Ramulu,U.S.1994. Effect of continuous irrigation

with paper factory effluent on soil properties. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 42 : 139-

140.

13. Poornima,K.2004. Heavy metal pollution near industry of

Ukkadam,Coimbatore . M.Sc.Thesis submitted to T.N.A.U,Coimbatore.

14. Rajurkar, N.S., Indian J. Environ. Hlth. 36 : 3 – 39 (1997).

15. Rattan, R.K., Datta S.P. and Suresh Chandra, 2002. Heavy metals and

environmental quality. Fert. News 47 (11) : 21-40.

16. Rattan, R.K., Datta, S.P. and Chhonkar, P.K. 2000, Annual Report on the

ICAR AP Cess Fund Scheme on Heavy metals in sewage effluent –irrigated

soils and their utilization by crops, Division of Soil Science and Agril.

Chemistry,IARI,New Delhi.

17. Sakal, R., J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 40 : 732 – 737 (1992).

18. Sharma, R.K., J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 33 : 517 – 518 (2003).

19. Som, Shrabani, Gupta, S.K. and Banerjee, S.K., J. Indian Soc. Soil. Sci. 42 :

571 – 575 (1994).

 1.5. Heavy metal cycle (Figure 1)

Industrial and municipal wastes

Mine spots
Consumers:
Atmospheric fall out
Fertilizers and agril. chemicals Human / animal

Plant residue

Surface water

Withdrawal
Desorption /
Dissolution/ Trace metals in soil
mineralisation solution
Trace elements associated
with soil solid phases Leaching
(organic/Inorganic)

Sorption / precipitation Trace elements in ground water

Immobilization

Figure–1 Heavy metal cycle in soil – water – plant – animal continuum

(Rattan et al., 2002)
2.1 Diagram of heavy metal pollution sources

Industrial products Air Birds

Burned fuel
Plants

Soil Domestic Man

Fertilizers animals

Pesticides

Water Fish

Rocks in earth
crust

Figure-2 Sources of Heavy metals pollution (Das, 1996)

 70 Raw Primary Treated Secondary Treated

60
Metal contents ug/L

50

40

30

20

10

0
Zn Cd Pb Cr Hg

Figure-3 Heavy metal contents in sewage from effluents from Howrah (Som
et al., 1994)
 400 Edible Nonedible (leaves) Nonedible shoot

350
Heavy metal contents (mg/kg)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
Zn Cu Cd Pb

Figure-4 Heavy metal levels in edible parts, nonedible leaves and shoot of
plants (Barman, 1994).

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