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Integrated mass balance of some heavy metals fluxes in Yaakob village, south Sohag, Egypt

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Abstract

The pollution of soil with heavy metals has direct or indirect adverse effect on human health. The present work was conducted to identify all the expected sources and sinks for heavy metals by applying mass balance model to identify the retention rate of metals by soils in Yaakob village, south Sohag Governorate, Egypt. The studied inputs (sources) include P-fertilizers, irrigation water and dustfall, while the main outputs (sinks) are drainage water and harvested plants. The measurements indicate that soil, clover, dustfall and P-fertilizers contain considerable concentration of Cd, Cr, Co, Cu and Pb. The mass balance measurements indicate that the accumulation rate of Cd, Cr and Co in soil was 5.4, 54.6 and 16.3 g ha−1 year−1, respectively. However, depletion trend of Pb and Cu was about 1.4 and 5.2 g ha−1 year−1, respectively. The main source of Cd, Pb, Cr and Co in the study area is P-fertilizers with input flux 14.9, 89.9, 198.6 and 18.5 g ha−1 year−1, while Cu source was dustfall with 19.33 g ha−1 year−1. The index of geoaccumulation calculations indicates different degrees of contamination with Cd, Cr, Co and Cu. On the other hand, the main sink for the studied heavy metals was the Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) which can be considered a good bioaccumulator of heavy metals.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to Geological sciences, National Research Centre, Egypt, for the laboratory work of all analysis in this work. The authors would like to thank Mr. Khaled Ezz-Elarb for guidance and assistance in the collecting of samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Bohouth St. (former El Tahrir St.), P.O. Box 12622, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

    S. A. Salman & A. A. Elnazer

  2. Photochemistry Department, National Research Centre, P.O. Box 12622, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

    H. A. El Nazer

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  1. S. A. Salman
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  2. A. A. Elnazer
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Correspondence to S. A. Salman.

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Editorial responsibility: Tanmoy Karak.

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Salman, S.A., Elnazer, A.A. & El Nazer, H.A. Integrated mass balance of some heavy metals fluxes in Yaakob village, south Sohag, Egypt. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 14, 1011–1018 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-016-1200-3

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