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

• Published in: Journal of Earth System Science 2017-06, Vol.126 (4), p.49, Article 49
• Main Authors: Giri, Soma, Singh, Abhay Kumar, Mahato, Mukesh Kumar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agricultural management; Agricultural pollution; Agriculture; Anthropogenic factors; Chromium; Contamination; Copper; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Extraction; Heavy metals; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; Manganese; Mathematical analysis; Metal concentrations; Mining; Nickel; Pollutant load; Pollution; Pollution index; Pollution levels; Pollution load; Principal components analysis; Proximity; Sedimentary rocks; Shale; Shear zone; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil investigations; Soil pollution; Soils; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Zinc
• ISSN: 0253-4126; 0973-774X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12040-017-0833-z

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 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 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.