DISTRIBUTION AND SEQUENTIAL EXTRACTION OF SOME HEAVY METALS FROM SOILS IRRIGATED WITH WASTEWATER FROM MEXICO CITY

A sequential extraction procedure was used to fractionate Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn in 4 soil profiles into the designated forms of water soluble + exchangeable, organically bound, carbonate and Mn oxides bound. Soil profiles were obtained from the Rural Development District 063, State of Hidalgo, which have been irrigated with wastewater coming out of the basin of Mexico. The total heavy metal contents range as follows: Cu, 8.9 to 86.5 mg kg-1 Cd, 0.86 to 5.07 mg kg-1 Pb, 18.1 to 131.7 mg kg-1 and Zn, 101 to 235.5 mg kg-1. The highest concentrations of total heavy metals were found in the surface layers at all soil profiles. Sequential chemical fractionation indicated that the four metals were predominantly associated with the organic fraction at most soil samples. The contents in all fractions of the four metals showed a decrease with depth which has been explained by the variations in the organic matter and CaCO3 contents in the different layers of soils. These soil properties were also the most important variables in the biological availability of the metals in these soils.