Assessment of spatial variations in pollution load of agricultural soil samples of Ludhiana district, Punjab

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment 2023-01, Vol.195 (1), p.222, Article 222
• Main Authors: Sharma, Priyanka, Kaur, Jaskaran, Katnoria, Jatinder Kaur
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aberration; Agricultural land; Agriculture; Agrochemicals; Alkaline soils; Allium cepa; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Cadmium; Cells; Chromium; Chromosome aberrations; Chromosomes; Cobalt; Copper; Drinking water; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollution - analysis; Environmental science; Fertilizers; Food contamination; Gene mapping; Genotoxicity; Heavy metals; Humans; Leachates; Metal content; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Mineral fertilizers; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Nitrates; Nutrients; Pesticides; Phosphates; Pollutant load; Pollution load; Potassium; Risk Assessment; Soil - chemistry; Soil contamination; Soil degradation; Soil nutrients; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil pollution; Soil properties; Soil quality; Spatial variations; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Surveying; Tributaries; Wastewater; Wastewater discharges
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-022-10816-z

Surveying, mapping, and characterizing soil properties are the critical steps in designating soil quality. Continuous use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, wastewater discharge, and leachates cause soil degradation and contamination of potable water and food ultimately leading to soil pollution and ill effects on human health. This study was undertaken to monitor the soil quality of agricultural soil samples collected from ten different agricultural fields in Ludhiana, Punjab (India), near Buddha Nullah, a Sutlej River tributary. Physico-chemical characteristics and heavy metal contents of soil samples were estimated during the study. The obtained results showed that all the agricultural soil samples were slightly alkaline in nature. Soil nutrients such as nitrates, phosphates, and potassium ranged from 0.06 to 0.11 mg/g, 0.03 to 0.08 mg/g, and 0.04 to 0.15 mg/g respectively. The contents (mg/kg) of heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, and lead were observed to be above the permissible limits in most of the soil samples. Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay was used for genotoxicity studies which has shown that Hambran (HBN), a site approx. 12.9 km of the Buddha Nullah, induced maximum genotoxic effects, i.e., 46.7% aberrant cells in root tip cells of Allium cepa . The statistical analysis revealed the positive correlation of heavy metals like Cr, Cu, and Ni (at p  ≤ 0.05 and p  ≤ 0.01) with the total chromosomal aberrations induced in Allium cepa .