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Article

Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE)

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College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi 144534, United Arab Emirates
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Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan
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Transilvania University of Brasov, 5 Turnului Str., 500036 Brasov, Romania
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S.C. Utilnavorep S.A., 55 Aurel Vlaicu Bd., 900055 Constanta, Romania
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Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Lucica Barbes
Toxics 2021, 9(3), 53; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9030053
Received: 18 February 2021 / Revised: 6 March 2021 / Accepted: 8 March 2021 / Published: 10 March 2021
The Liwa area is a primary food production area in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has intensively been used for agriculture. This study investigates the pollution levels with heavy metals in agricultural soils from the Liwa area. Thirty-two soil samples were analyzed for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As. Results revealed that heavy metal levels varied in the ranges 220.02–311.21, 42.39–66.92, 43.43–71.55, 32.86–52.12, 10.29–21.70, 2.83–8.84, 0.46–0.69, 0.03–0.37 mg/kg for Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, Cd, Co, and As, respectively. All samples presented low As concentrations with an average of 0.01 mg/kg. The variations in bulk metal contents in the soil samples were related to multiple sources, including agrochemicals, atmospheric dust containing heavy metals, and traffic-related metals. Enrichment factor analysis indicates that Cd, Ni, Zn, and Cr were highly enriched in soils, and they could originate from non-crustal sources. Based on the geo-accumulation index (Igeo), the soil samples appeared uncontaminated with Mn, Cr, Zn, Pb, Co, As, Cu, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated with Ni and moderately contaminated with Cd. The contamination factors suggest low contamination, except for Ni, which showed moderate contamination. The average pollution load index (PLI) revealed unpolluted to low pollution of all soil samples. The ecological risk assessment (PERI) showed that all heavy metals posed a low risk, except for Cd which exhibited a high ecological risk. View Full-Text
Keywords: soil; agriculture; pollution indices; heavy metals; ecological risk assessment; Liwa; Abu Dhabi; UAE soil; agriculture; pollution indices; heavy metals; ecological risk assessment; Liwa; Abu Dhabi; UAE
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MDPI and ACS Style

Al-Taani, A.A.; Nazzal, Y.; Howari, F.M.; Iqbal, J.; Bou Orm, N.; Xavier, C.M.; Bărbulescu, A.; Sharma, M.; Dumitriu, C.-S. Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE). Toxics 2021, 9, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9030053

AMA Style

Al-Taani AA, Nazzal Y, Howari FM, Iqbal J, Bou Orm N, Xavier CM, Bărbulescu A, Sharma M, Dumitriu C-S. Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE). Toxics. 2021; 9(3):53. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9030053

Chicago/Turabian Style

Al-Taani, Ahmed A., Yousef Nazzal, Fares M. Howari, Jibran Iqbal, Nadine Bou Orm, Cijo M. Xavier, Alina Bărbulescu, Manish Sharma, and Cristian-Stefan Dumitriu. 2021. "Contamination Assessment of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil, in the Liwa Area (UAE)" Toxics 9, no. 3: 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9030053

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