Assessment of heavy metals in various parts of plants, soil and air of some selected areas of district charsadda, pakistan

Plants and vegetables contamination with heavy metals is one of the burning issues in the recent years. Soil, various parts of the plants and air samples were collected for assessment of some selected heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb) from selected areas of district Charsadda, Pakistan. All the samples were analyzed for the presence and quantification of heavy metals like Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Selected heavy metals were found in all samples having diversified concentration. The highest level of Cr was found to be 1.309 mg/Kg in the wheat root sample (near to water entrance) collected from the proximity of service deck and its lowest concentration was found to be 0.140 mg/Kg in the jasmine root sample collected from the Hashtnagar Filling (HNF) station. Similarly the highest concentrations of Ni and Zn were found to be 5.96 mg/Kg and 0.036 mg/Kg in the plant samples collected from oat field situated near vehicles work shop and the soil sample collected from the oat field respectively. The highest concentration of Pb (4.00 mg/Kg) was determined in the root sample of jasmine collected from H.N.F station, which is above the permissible level. The soil samples were found to contain all these heavy metals with profound concentrations. It was found that level of some of these heavy metals was higher than the WHO permissible limit in some of the investigated samples. The study suggests that concentration of these heavy metals must be periodically checked, monitored and controlled in order to avoid or at least minimize the hazardous effects of these toxic metals on fauna and flora of the area.