CHAKRESH PATHAK, A.K. CHOPRA, VINOD KUMAR AND SACHIN SRIVASTAVA
Abstract
The present study has brought out that the wastewater irrigation increased the amount of heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Cd and Hg in the agricultural soils near Bindal river, Dehradun. Among the seven metals, the per cent concentration in wastewater irrigated soil was in the order of Zn (48%)>Pb (20%)>Ni (13%)=Cu (13%)>Cr (5%)>Cd (1%). The statistical analysis showed that the concentrations of Zn, Cd and Cr were found to be significantly (P<0.05) more while the concentrations of Pb, Cu and Ni were insignificantly (P>0.05) higher in wastewater irrigated soil than that in natural water irrigated soil. The Hg was below detection limit. The concentration of metals present in soil was below the maximum permissible limits of Indian standards. However, the levels of the metals except the Pb were more than the permissible limit of ICRCL. The contamination of these trace elements in soil may cause significant health risks, if they enter human food chain.