HEAVY METAL POLLUTION OF SURFACE SOIL IN THE BHOLAKPUR AREA, HYDERABAD, INDIA

Bholakpur is a working class locality in Hyderabad, wherein many small-scale tanneries are located in the area that process leather and may cause contamination of surface soils. In view of this, the present investigation has been taken up to study the heavy metal contamination of soils and to evaluate the nature and extent of soil pollution. The pH in soils range from 7.52 to 8.14, electrical conductivity (EC) - from 10 390 to 187 300 mS/cm and total dissolved solids (TDS) - from 4675 to 84 285 mg/l, while total organic carbon (TOC) - from 2.06 to 3.93% and total carbon (TC) - from 3.82 to 6.96%. ICP-MS was used to determine the concentrations of 34 elements which are reported for the first time for soils from this region. The heavy metal concentrations of Cu (134.78 to 475.9 mg/kg), Pb (58.62 to 86.2 mg/kg), Zn (170.46 to 371.09 mg/kg), Co (6.71 to 9.88 mg/kg) and Cr (79.35 to 115.89 mg/kg) were found to be high on comparison with world median for soils. This particularly relates to the uncontrolled waste dumps and liquid wastes from tanneries. Thus, heavy metals accumulate in the soil and present a serious long-term hazard. The present investigation could clearly indicate the extent of heavy metal pollution in the soils due to the anthropogenic activities.