Muhandisī-i Bihdāsht-i Muḥīṭ (Feb 2024)
Health and ecological risk indicators of potentially toxic elements in the surface soils of the Mansouri oil field in the southeast of Ahvaz
Abstract
Background: Potentially toxic elements are part of dangerous environmental pollutants and are carcinogenic to humans. This research was conducted in 2019 with the aim of estimating and evaluating human health risks and environmental ecology of potentially toxic elements in the surface soils of Mansouri oil field. Methods: In this research, soil samples were prepared from seven study areas. In each station, five random samples from an area of 5 square meters were mixed in a composite sample and 1 kg of surface soil (depth 0 to 20 cm) was collected in polyethylene bags, thus 105 soil samples were prepared. Results: The average concentration of cadmium, lead, nickel, chromium, vanadium, copper and zinc in the surface soils of Mansouri oil field were obtained 1.05, 69.11, 86.79, 99.14, 23.76, 34.05, 65 and 118.22 mg/kg respectively. The highest and lowest values of the potential ecological risk index were related to cadmium (157.50) and vanadium (0.34). The carcinogenic risk index for chromium element was higher than cadmium, lead, nickel and vanadium for adults (5.25×10-5) and children (3.91×10-4). Conclusion: The pollution indices of potentially toxic elements such as the values of the pollution factor, enrichment factor and land accumulation index showed that lead and cadmium had the greatest impact on soil pollution and the levels of potentially toxic elements were high in concentration compared to the background values and had a global average, which indicates that crude oil spills, light and heavy vehicle traffic, and related human activities in this area have significantly contributed to the increase in the levels of potentially toxic elements in these soils. It seems that there are potentially toxic elements that do not threaten human health and do not cause health problems or pathogenicity.
