Assessment of the Ecological and Health Risks of Potentially Toxic Metals in Agricultural Soils from the Drosh-Shishi Valley, Pakistan
Muhammad Sarim,
Tayyab Jan,
Seema Anjum Khattak,
Adil Mihoub,
Aftab Jamal,
Muhammad Farhan Saeed,
Somayeh Soltani-Gerdefaramarzi,
Saadia Rashid Tariq,
Manuel Pulido Fernández,
Roberto Mancinelli,
Emanuele Radicetti
Affiliations
Muhammad Sarim
State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
Tayyab Jan
National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan
Seema Anjum Khattak
National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar 25130, Pakistan
Adil Mihoub
Center for Scientific and Technical Research on Arid Regions, Biophysical Environment Station, Touggourt 30240, Algeria
Aftab Jamal
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Muhammad Farhan Saeed
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari 61100, Pakistan
Somayeh Soltani-Gerdefaramarzi
Department of Water Sciences and Engineering, Collage of Agriculture and Natural Resource Ardakan University, Ardakan 95491-89518, Iran
Saadia Rashid Tariq
Department of Chemistry, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
Manuel Pulido Fernández
Grupo de Investigación Geo Ambiental, Universidad de Extremadura, 10071 Cáceres, Spain
Roberto Mancinelli
Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE), University of Tuscia, 01011 Viterbo, Italy
Emanuele Radicetti
Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences (DOCPAS), University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
Soil pollution is a highlighted concern of modern society, particularly in developing countries. The Drosh-Shishi valley, which is a hilly region near Afghanistan with a land area of around 15,000 km2, is situated in the south of Chitral District (Pakistan) and has a population of approximately 450,000. Nowadays, this region is being explored for soil pollution, specifically heavy metals which pose a potential risk to human health. Therefore, our main goal was to investigate possible sources of heavy metals’ spread and to assess the content levels in soil and the associated risks for human. We collected 34 representative samples from transported sediments and 31 from agricultural crops. We analyzed the soil samples for the contents of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn using ICP-OES analyzers. These values were used to obtain the contamination factor (CF) and to estimate the potential health risk caused by heavy metals according to the USEPA dose–response model. Our results suggest that the heavy metal pollution has a geogenic source, but it is also aggregated by chemical fertilizers used in farming. Regarding levels, most of the metals except Pb showed contents above the permissible level, with CF values from moderate to high. Overall, Cu and Ni showed a significant total cancer risk (TCR > 1 × 10−4) in children. Therefore, we conclude that heavy metal pollution is causing a serious threat to humans in this area, and we recommend that authorities should make more efforts in monitoring the heavy metals content in soils to reduce potential health risks.
