Assessment of the Levels of Heavy Metal Pollution in Roadside Soils of Eskisehir, Turkey

Abstract

A detailed study was conducted to determine the current status of the heavy metals Cd Cu Cr Fe Hg Mn Ni Pb and Zn in Eskisehir Turkey The 15 different locations (n = 270) studied were specifically selected to identify the effects of soil pollution on the tramway which has been in service since December 2004 for public transportation in Eskisehir The samples were taken from three different lines tramway only lines traffic only lines and both traffic and tramway lines The pollution level was estimated based on the geoaccumulation index (1(geo)) the enrichment factor (EF) the pollution index and the integrated pollution index (IPI) The values for the IPI were in the following order Pb > Zn > Cu > Fe > Mn > Ni > Cr > Cd but mercury was not detected at any sample point These indexes for metals in the soils under consideration correlated with either low or median levels of pollution In addition descriptive statistics were provided for the heavy metals under consideration and box plots were constructed and interpreted for all measured indices Environ Toxicol Chem 2010 29 2720-2725 (C) 2010 SETAC