Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigation of elemental enrichment and ecological risk assessment of surface soils in two industrial port cities, southwest Iran

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the two industrial port cities of Iran, the port of Mahshahr and the port of Imam Khomeini. In spite of their importance for the economy, the two cities require monitoring and assessment from an environmental and human health perspective. In this study, environmental quality and heavy metals pollution of soils influenced by human activities were investigated. A total of 30 soil samples were collected and subjected to detail physicochemical characterization. The results showed high levels of heavy metals in the urban soils of port of Mahshahr (POM) and elevated respective levels in surface soils of the port of Imam Khomeini (PIK) with Ni being significantly higher than those in POM. The integrated pollution index (IPI) values of metals ranged from 1.22 to 1.87 in POM and 1.52 to 3.31in PIK, 50% of soil samples in PIK were classified as highly polluted, and all of the soil samples in PM were classified as moderately polluted. These results are in accordance with Enrichment Factor (EF) values, which showed the role of anthropogenic activities in the soil heavy metal enrichment. Moreover, the highest potential ecological risk index (RI) was found in the sites of petrochemical industries in PIK indicating serious metal contamination. Statistical analysis showed that heavy metals were mainly controlled by human activities. The results showed more dense industrial activity in PIK is responsible for higher pollution. This study establishes a benchmark against which future monitoring and remediation programs can be based on. Because of proximity to the Persian Gulf, continued the release of contaminants into the region, could have adverse biological health effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdul qader Ismaeel W, Kusag A (2015) Enrichment factor and geo-accumulation index for heavy metals at industrial zone in Iraq. J Appl Geol Geophys 3(3):26–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Afyuni M, Schulin R, Rezaeinejad Y (2006) Extractability and plant uptake of Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd from a sludge–amended Haplargid in central Iran. Arid Land Res. Manag 20(1):29–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ajmone-Marsan F, Biasioli M (2010) Trace Elements in Soils of Urban Areas. Water Air Soil Pollut 213:121–143

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbieri M (2015) NigroA, Sappa G (2015) Soil contamination evaluation by enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo). Senses Sci 2(3):94–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Benhaddy ML, Boukhelkhal A, Halis Y, Hadjel M (2016) Human Health Risks Associated with Metals from Urban Soil and Road Dust in an Oilfield Area of Southeastern Algeria. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 70(3):556

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cai QY, Mo CH, Li HQ, Lu H, Zeng QY, Li YW, Wu XL (2013) Heavy metal contamination of urban soils and dusts in Guangzhou, South China. Environ Monit Assess 185:1095–1106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curran-Cournane F, Lear G, Schwendenmann L, Khin J (2015) Heavy metal soil pollution is influenced by the location of green spaces within urban settings. Soil Res 53:306–315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Delavar MA, Safari Y (2016) Spatial distribution of heavy metals in soils and plants in Zinc Town, northwest Iran. Int J Environ Sci Technol 13:297–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazeli MSh, Moosavi MH, Pournia M, Jassemi Zergani Z (2009) Metals distribution in topsoils around industrial town of Ahwaz II, Ahwaz, Iran. J Appl Sci 9:1121–1127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ghadimi F (2014) A statistical and support vector machine approach for assessing heavy metal contamination in soil, dust and rainwater from the Arak city Iran. Intl Res J Appl Basic Sci 8(10):1539–1556

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghadimi F, Ghomi M, Ranjbar Hajati A (2013) Statistical analysis of heavy metal contamination in urban dusts of Arak Iran. Iranica J Energy Environ 4(4):406–418

    Google Scholar 

  • Ghazifard A (2006) Evaluating the relation between heavy metal contamination of air and surface soils in city of Isfahan (Iran). Geolog Soc London, IAEG, p 575

    Google Scholar 

  • Golia EE, Dimirkou A, Mitsios IK (2008) Levels of heavy metals pollution in different types of soil of central Greece. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 80:206–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo G, Wu F, Xie F, Zhang R (2012) Spatial distribution and pollution assessment of heavy metals in urban soils from Southwest China. Environ Sci 24(3):410–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamzeh MA, Aftabi A, Mirzaee M (2011) Assessing geochemical influence of traffic and other vehicle-related activities on heavy metal contamination in urban soils of Kerman city, using a GIS-based approach. Environ Geochem Health 33:577–594

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossain MA, Ali NM, Islam MS, Hossain HMZ (2015) Spatial distribution and source apportionment of heavy metals in soils of Gebeng industrial city Malaysia. Environ Earth Sci 73(1):115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji W, Yang T, Ma S, Ni W (2012) Heavy metal pollution of soils in the site of a retired paint and Ink Factory. Energy Procedia 16:21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karim Z, Qureshi BA, Mumtaz M (2015) Geochemical baseline determination and pollution assessment of heavy metals in urban soils of Karachi, Pakistan. Ecol Ind 48:358–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MN, Wasim AA, Sarwar A, Rasheed MF (2011) Assessment of heavy metal toxicants in the roadside soil along the N-5, National Highway, Pakistan. Environ Monit Assess 182:587–595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishna AK, Govil KP (2007) Soil contamination due to heavy metals from an industrial area of Surat Gujarat, Western India. Environ Monit Assess 124:263–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu X, Wang L, Lei K, Huang J, Zhai Y (2009) Contamination assessment of copper, lead, zinc, manganese and nickel in street dust of Baoji, NW China. J Hazard Mater 161:1058–1062

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma Z, Chen K, Li Z, Bi J, Huang L (2015) Heavy metals in soils and road dusts in the mining areas of Western Suzhou, China: a preliminary identification of contaminated sites. J Soils Sedim 16:204–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmoudabadi E, Sarmadian F, Nazary Moghaddam R (2015) Spatial distribution of soil heavy metals in different land uses of an industrial area of Tehran (Iran). Int J Environ Sci Technol 12(10):p3283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meza-Figueroa D, De la O-Villanueva M, De la Parra ML (2007) Heavy metal distribution in dust from elementary schools in Hermosillo, Sonora, México. Atmos Environ 41:276–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mombo S, Foucault Y, Deola F, Gaillard I, Goix S, Shahid M, Schreck E, Pierart A, Dumat C (2015) Management of human health risk in the context of kitchen gardens polluted by lead and cadmium near a lead recycling company. J Soils Sediments. doi:10.1007/s11368-015-1069-7

    Google Scholar 

  • Muzerengi C (2017) Enrichment and geoaccumulation of Pb, Zn, As, Cd and Cr in soils near new union gold mine. Limpopo Province of South Africa, Lappeenranta

    Google Scholar 

  • Naderizadeh Z, Khademi H, Ayoubi SH (2015) Identification of heavy metal sources in soil and dust of urban and industrial areas of Bushehr Province (Southwestern Iran) using multivariate statistical analyses. Eurasian J Soil Sci 4,404, citeweb.info/20150439264

  • Ololade IA (2014) An Assessment of Heavy-Metal Contamination in Soils within Auto-Mechanic Workshops Using Enrichment and Contamination Factors with Geoaccumulation Indexes. J Environ Prot 5:970–982

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiang L, Yang W, Jingshuang L, Quanying W, Mingying Z (2015) Grain-Size Distribution and heavy metal contamination of road dusts in urban parks and squares in Changchun China. Environ Geochem Health 37(1):71–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahman SH, Khanam D, Adyel TM, Islam MS, Ahsan MA, Akbor MA (2012) Assessment of heavy metal contamination of agricultural soil around dhaka export processing zone (DEPZ), Bangladesh: implication of seasonal variation and indices. Appl Sci 2:584–601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayadi MH, Rezaei MR (2014) Impact of land use on the distribution of toxic metals in surface soils in Birjand city Iran. Proc Int Acad Ecol Environ Sci 4(1):18–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Shakeri A, Moore F, Modabberi S (2009) Heavy metal contamination and distribution in the shiraz industrial complex zone soil, South Shiraz Iran. World ApplSci J 6(3):413–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Škrbić B, Đurišić-Mladenović N (2012) Distribution of heavy elements in urban and rural surface soils: the Novi Sad city and the surrounding settlements, Serbia. Environ Monit Assess 185:457–471

    Google Scholar 

  • Soltani N, Keshavarzi B, Moore F, Tavakol T, Lahijanzadeh AR, Jaafarzadeh N, Kermani M (2015) Ecological and human health hazards of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in road dust of Isfahan Metropolis, Iran. Sci Total Environ 505:712–723

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun Y, Zhou Q, Xie X, Liu R (2010) Spatial, sources and risk assessment of heavy metal contamination of urban soils in typical regions of Shenyang, China. J Hazard Mater 174:455–462

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taghipour H, Mosaferi M, Armanfar F, Gaemmagami SJ (2013) Heavy metals pollution in the soils of suburban areas in big cities: a case study. Int J Environ Sci Technol 10:243–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang H, Wang J, Liu R, Yu W, Shen Z (2015) Spatial variation, environmental risk and biological hazard assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments of the Yangtze River Estuary. Mar Pollut Bull 93:250–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei B, Yang L (2010) A review of heavy metal contaminations in urban soils, urban road dusts and agricultural soils from China. Microchem J 94:99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei B, Jiang F, Li X, Mu S (2009) Spatial Distribution and contamination assessment of heavy metals in urban road dusts from Urumqi, NW China. Microchem J 93:147–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei X, Gao B, Wang P, Zhou H, Lu J (2015) Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in street dusts from different functional areas in Beijing, China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 112:186–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xia XH, Chen X, Liu R, Liu H (2011) Heavy metals in urban soils with various types of land use in Beijing, China. J Hazard Mater 186:2043–2050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan GL, Sun TH, Han P, Li J, Lang XX (2014) Source identification and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in topsoil using environmental geochemical mapping: typical urban renewal area in Beijing, China. J Geochem Explor 136:40–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuswir NS, Praveena SM, Aris AZ, Ismail SN, Hashim Z (2015) Health risk assessment of heavy metal in urban surface soil (Klang District, Malaysia). Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 95(1):80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zarei Y, Uromeihy A, Nikudel MR (2014) Effects of cement and lime addition to soft clays on their strength in saturated condition of Mahshahr Port. J Geotech Geol 9(4):353–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang C (2006) Using multivariate analyses and GIS to identify pollutants and their spatial patterns in urban soils in Galway, Ireland. Environ Pollut 142:501–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang XY, Lin FF, Wong MT, Feng XL, Wang K (2009) Identification of soil heavy metal sources from anthropogenic activities and pollution assessment of Fuyang County, China. Environ Monit Assess 154:439–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu W, Bian B, Li L (2008) Heavy metal contamination of road-deposited sediments in a medium size city of China. Environ Monit Assess 147:171–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the office of vice-chancellor for Research and Technology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz for their assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

    F. Rastmanesh, M. Mousavi & A. Zarasvandi

  2. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation (CMLR), Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    M. Edraki

Authors
  1. F. Rastmanesh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Mousavi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Zarasvandi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Edraki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to F. Rastmanesh.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rastmanesh, F., Mousavi, M., Zarasvandi, A. et al. Investigation of elemental enrichment and ecological risk assessment of surface soils in two industrial port cities, southwest Iran. Environ Earth Sci 76, 717 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7046-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-017-7046-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation