Environment and Interdisciplinary Development

Evaluation and Zoning of Cadmium and Cupper Pollution Using Pollution Indices in Shabstar Plain, East Azerbaijan, Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Fatemeh Sarbazan 1
Omid Rafieyan 1
Mohammad Reza Dalalian 2
Fatemeh Zabihi 3

1 Department of Environment Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

2 Department of Soil Sciences and Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch, Tabriz, Iran

3 Department of Soil Sciences and Engineering, Agriculture and Natural Resources Faculty, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/envj.2025.449928.1357
Abstract
Introduction: Contamination of agricultural land with heavy metals such as Pb, Cd, Zn, and Ni from sources such as phosphate fertilizers, the use of sewage sludge, urban effluents and domestic sewage is one of the important problems and a serious threat to the environment and human health. Heavy metals, due to their non-degradability and low mobility, have harmful physiological effects on the health of living organisms and the environment. When heavy metals enter the human body by any way, there is a possibility of stimulating the body's immune system and may cause nausea, anorexia, vomiting, digestive abnormalities and dermatitis. In order to solve the problem, first of all, the amount and manner of contamination dispersion should be determined in the suspicious lands. Then, by identifying areas with different levels of contamination, management strategies can be proposed in the discussion of land use planning to restore contaminated areas. The purpose of this research is to determine the amount of heavy metal contamination (such as Cd and Cu) in the agricultural farms of the Shabstar Plain using contamination indices and theirs zoning. 
Materials and Methods: This research was carried out in the Shabstar plain, which is located in 70 km west of Tbriz city and north of Lake Urmia. 60 samples were prepared from the depth of 0-30 cm and transferred to the laboratory. Sampling locations were done using a specific geographic locator device. The concentrations of Cd and Cu in extracts prepared from soil samples using TEA and DTPA were measured using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer (ICP). Then contamination indices including pollution index (PI), geo accumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor (EF) and Nemerow pollution index (PIn) were calculated. Finally, the spatial distribution of Cd and Cu contamination in the studied area was done based on contamination indices and by using the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method.
Results: The results showed that the studied soil samples were heterogeneous in terms of salinity and organic carbon content, but they were homogeneous in terms of lime content. The average concentration of Cd is 1.051 mg/kg and more than the upper limit of the international standard and less than the upper limit of the Iranian standard. In terms of PI, the studied soils are in the moderate contamination class for Cd (PI=1.05) and low contamination class for Cu (PI=0.03) and in terms of the Igeo index, in the moderately/strongly contamination class for cadmium (2.83= Igeo) and uncontaminated for Cu (Igeo = -5.05). In terms of the enrichment factor, the studied soils were in the Extremely high pollution class for Cd (EF=76.1) and in the minimum pollution class for copper (EF=0.35). 
Discussion: The results of Nemerow pollution index (PIn) showed that the soils of the studied area are in the slightly polluted class in terms of the Cu (PIn = 1.38). The spatial distribution predicted by the mathematical method of Inverse Distance Weighting for pollution indices (PI, Igeo and EF) showed that the studied area with agricultural use had the highest amount of these indices for Cd. The pollution of Cd was in extremely high to moderate pollution classes. The contamination of Cu was in the low to non-contaminated class. To reduce soil contamination with heavy metals, the use of green technology or phytoremediation is suggested.

Keywords

Contamination Indices
Heavy Metals
Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW)
Zoning

Subjects

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Environment and Interdisciplinary Development
Volume 10, Issue 89
Summer 2025
Pages 58-74

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