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Metal contamination of agricultural soils in the copper mining areas of Singhbhum shear zone in India

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Abstract

The study was intended to investigate the heavy metal contamination in the agricultural soils of the copper mining areas in Singhbhum shear zone, India. The total concentrations of the metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (ICPMS). Pollution levels were assessed by calculating enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (\(I_\mathrm{geo}\)), contamination factors (CF), pollution load index (PLI), Nemerow index and ecological risk index (\(R_{I}\)). The metal concentrations in the soil samples exceeded the average shale values for almost all the metals. Principal component analysis resulted in extraction of three factors explaining 82.6% of the data variability and indicated anthropogenic contribution of Cu, Ni, Co, Cr, Mn and Pb. The EF and \(I_\mathrm{geo}\) values indicated very high contamination with respect to Cu followed by As and Zn in the agricultural soils. The values of PLI, \(R_{I}\) and Nemerow index, which considered the overall effect of all the studied metals on the soils, revealed that 50% of the locations were highly polluted with respect to metals. The pollution levels varied with the proximity to the copper mining and processing units. Consequently, the results advocate the necessity of periodic monitoring of the agricultural soils of the area and development of proper management strategies to reduce the metal pollution.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing the necessary funding for the study under the DST-Young Scientist Scheme (Grant No. YSS/2015/001211). Also authors are thankful to the Director and Environment Assessment and Remediation Section (NREM), CSIR–Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Dhanbad for providing the necessary laboratory facilities and other logistic support for the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources and Environmental Management Group, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, Barwa Road, Dhanbad, 826 015, India

    Soma Giri & Abhay Kumar Singh

  2. Department of Chemistry, Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag, 825 301, India

    Mukesh Kumar Mahato

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  1. Soma Giri
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Correspondence to Soma Giri.

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Corresponding editor: N V Chalapathi Rao

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Giri, S., Singh, A.K. & Mahato, M.K. Metal contamination of agricultural soils in the copper mining areas of Singhbhum shear zone in India. J Earth Syst Sci 126, 49 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0833-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-017-0833-z

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