Evaluation of Soil Pollution with Heavy Metals (Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni and V) in Ahvaz Parks (2016)

Background & objectives: Heavy metals in urban parks are one of the most important indicators of urban pollution, as children playing in the park can readily be affected. This research was conducted to evaluate the environmental pollution of some heavy metals in Ahvaz parks. Methods: To this end, 26 sampling stations were selected from 20 parks in Ahvaz city and the soil samples were analyzed by inductively coupled spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method. The pollution levels of heavy metals were calculated based on enrichment factor, Index of Geo accumulation, pollution index and Nemerow integrated pollution index. Results: The average concentrations of heavy metals of Cr, Zn, Ni, Pb, Cu and V were 167.26, 131.92, 78.75, 51.83, 28.71 and 12.49 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of all heavy metals except Cu and V were several times higher than the base content. Based on the average EF and PI in the study area, heavy metals of Ni, Zn and Pb had high contaminations. Moreover, the highest mean of Igeo was related to Ni, Zn and Pb. According to NIPI results, 100% of samples had high degree of contamination. Conclusion: The results showed that the contamination source of evaluated metals was anthropogenic activities, including vehicle traffic and burning fossil fuels. Parks in Ahvaz were polluted by heavy metals, so these results may be useful for planning, risk assessment and decision making by city administrators.