TY - JOUR ID - TI - Assessment of the Toxic Elements Resulting from the Manufacture of Bricks on Air and Soil at Abu Smeache Area - Southwest Babylon governorate - Iraq AU - Murtadha J. Issa1 AU - Hussain Musa Hussain2 AU - Inas hadi Shaker*1 PY - 2019 VL - 60 IS - 11 SP - 2443 EP - 2456 JO - Iraqi Journal of Science المجلة العراقية للعلوم SN - 00672904 23121637 AB - Brick factories distributed within the study area use fuel oil to complete theburning of the bricks, were high amounts of gases and suspended particles withdifferent concentrations of heavy elements are produced and cause air and soilpollution. It is noted that the workers suffer from respiratory diseases and otherhealth problems. This study is an attempt to detect the sources and concentrations ofpollutants and to propose modalities for their treatment and reduction. Air and soilsamples were collected from different sites in Abu Smeache brick factory in Al-Kiflarea to the south of Babel city, Iraq, during two seasons (summer and winter). Theprocess also included collecting and modelling of dust and soil samples from twodepth, surface and sub-surface, to detect pollution and the mobility of heavyelements across the different depths. Heavy elements (Pb, Ni, Co), along with gases(CO, CO2, NO2, SO2) and total suspended particles (TSP) in the air, were analyzedby atomic absorption spectroscopy. The air results showed high pollution with allthe studied heavy elements, while the levels of TSP and SO2 were higher thanglobal and Iraqi limits in most of the studied stations, especially in the winter. Theresults also showed significant pollution in the soil with lead along with slightcontamination with nickel and cobalt. Soil contamination was evaluated usingseveral contamination indices; the values of contamination factors (CF) for the leadwere very high, while CF values for nickel and copper indicated low to moderatepollution. Also, the high values of PLI ˃1 in the soil indicated high pollution withheavy elements, which provides clear evidence of the impact of industrial humanactivities on the environment of the region. In addition, low values of i-geo indicateda moderate contamination with lead and an unpolluted status for both nickel andcopper. These results indicate a great need to develop strategies to prevent andreduce pollution by heavy metals in the areas under rapid industrial and urbandevelopment.

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