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Abstract
Heavy metals are bioaccumulated and biotransferred both by natural and anthropogenic sources. The contamination by heavy metals in plants and water is one of the major issues to be faced throughout the world and requires attention because heavy metals above their normal ranges are extremely threatened to both plant and animal life. It was therefore of interest to conduct study to estimate levels of heavy metals in plants, water and soil of Tanda dam kohat. Soil and water samples were also analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, hardness and electrical conductivity. Water samples were collected at random from the water reservoir of Tanda dam kohat. About 13 samples of water and 13 soil samples were collected at random and four wild plants namely Xanthium strumarium, Acacia modesta, Dodmea viscosa and Tamarix aphyda were collected from the same region. Heavy metals for which these samples were analyzed were cadmium, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, chromium and lead. Plants samples were analyzed separately for their root, stem and leaves. Flame absorption spectrometer was used for analyzing the samples. Results showed that concentrations of cadmium, chromium, iron and lead in water were recorded above the permissible limits set by WHO while zinc and copper were recorded below the permissible limits and no concentration of nickel was recorded in water samples. pH of all water samples was recorded below the normal range while hardness and electrical conductivity of all water samples were recorded above the normal range set by WHO. Concentrations of heavy metals in soil were also compared with WHO standards for heavy metals and in soil samples concentration of heavy metals were recorded above the permissible limits except zinc which was recorded below the permissible limits set by WHO. pH of all soil samples was recorded below the normal range while electrical conductivity of all soil samples was recorded above the normal range.
Keywords;
Soil, Water, Plants, pH, Conductancy, Heavymetals, Atomic, Absorption.
INTRODUCTION
Human activities such as industrial production, mining, agriculture and transportation, release high amounts of heavy metals into surface and ground water, soils and ultimately to the biosphere. Accumulation of heavy metals in crop plants is of great concern due to the probability of food contamination through the soil root interface. Though...