Zohre Ebrahimi-Khusfi

Assessing heavy metal risk is essential for protecting public health and preserving environmental quality and sustainable development. This study focused on spatial distribution and contamination levels of seven major heavy metals (HMs) including lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), and copper (Cu), in Jiroft, a city in southeastern Iran. The diethylene triamine Penta acetic acid method was applied for the determination of heavy metals concentrations after the collection of surface soil samples. Inverse distance weighting was performed for mapping the spatial distribution. Potential ecological risk index and principal component analysis were carried out to identify the risk level and the primary source of heavy metals, respectively. Mean concentrations of all the heavy metals were higher compared to their mean crustal values. Zinc and manganese were considered the major pollutants due to high enrichment factor and pollution index. More than 45% of the soil samples presented noticeable ecological risk according to the calculated potential ecological risk index values, which ranged between 80 and 160. The highest value corresponded to cadmium (Ei=103.9). Principal component analysis suggested that anthropogenic and natural factors were responsible for heavy metal accumulation in soil. These results show the urgent need for an intervention targeted at soil pollution to protect the environment and public health in Jiroft