Journal of Environmental Health and Sustainable Development

en Investigating and Compiling a Map of the Severity of Heavy Metal Pollution in the Soil around the Landfill of Sabzevar Municipal Waste with Different Indicators Environmental Health, Sciences, and Engineering Original articles <div style="text-align: justify;">Introduction: Uncontrolled and improper landfilling of solid waste increases the concentration of heavy metals in the soil. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate soil contamination with heavy metals in the landfill of municipal and hospital waste in Sabzevar city by compiling a map of the severity of heavy metal pollution in the soil. Materials and Methods: Concentrations of heavy metals were analyzed by ICP-OES at distances of 10, 100 m from the burial site and at depths of 10 and 30 cm. To quantitatively evaluate the severity of pollution and the environmental effects of heavy metals in the soils around the Sabzevar landfill, enrichment factor (EF), index of geoaccumulation (Igeo), and investigating carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic hazards of heavy metals were used. Then a general map of soil pollution severity was prepared using the limitation scores (LS) and potential ecological risk index (RI) method. Results: Mean concentrations of As, Zn, Pb, Cr, and Cu in topsoil were 6.01, 41.4, 6.31, 26.77, and 31.45 mg/kg, respectively, as well as Hg and Cd were 60.79, and 61.60 µg/kg, respectively. However, mean concentrations of As, Zn, Pb, Cr, and Cu in the soil at a depth of 30 cm were 5.75, 38.33, 6.25, 22.68, and 31.04 mg/kg, respectively, as well as Hg and Cd were 66.57, and 59.98 µg/kg, respectively. Conclusion: According to the estimates of Igeo and FE indices, only Hg and Cd showed severe contamination. The noncarcinogenic risks of heavy metals were estimated to be less than 1.</div> Environmental Pollution, Metals, Heavy, Landfill, Cancer, Sabzevar City. 1547 1560 http://jehsd.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-408-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Hasan Kowsari mohammadhasan.kowsari@yahoo.com 0000-0002-9468-767X No Student Research Committee, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran. Mohammad Hossien Saghi saghi9@gmail.com 0000-0003-1802-7546 Yes Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran. Razieh Ashoori ra.ashoori90@gmail.com 0000-0001-6050-4946 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Ayoub Rastgar rastegar.89@gmail.com 0000-0002-6721-7509 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran. Ali Fakour alifakor@gmail.com 0000-0002-4893-182X No Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.