Accumulation of Heavy Metals (Ni, Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, Zn, Fe) in the soil, water and plants and analysis of physico-chemical parameters of soil and water Collected from Tanda Dam kohat

Heavy metals are bioaccumulated and biotransferred both by natural and anthropogenic sources. The contamination by heavy metals in plants and water is one of the major issues to be faced throughout the world and requires attention because heavy metals above their normal ranges are extremely threatened to both plant and animal life. It was therefore of interest to conduct study to estimate levels of heavy metals in plants, water and soil of Tanda dam kohat. Soil and water samples were also analyzed for physico-chemical parameters such as pH, hardness and electrical conductivity. Water samples were collected at random from the water reservoir of Tanda dam kohat. About 13 samples of water and 13 soil samples were collected at random and four wild plants namely Xanthium strumarium, Acacia modesta, Dodmea viscosa and Tamarix aphyda were collected from the same region. Heavy metals for which these samples were analyzed were cadmium, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, chromium and lead. Plants samples were analyzed separately for their root, stem and leaves. Flame absorption spectrometer was used for analyzing the samples. Results showed that concentrations of cadmium, chromium, iron and lead in water were recorded above the permissible limits set by WHO while zinc and copper were recorded below the permissible limits and no concentration of nickel was recorded in water samples. pH of all water samples was recorded below the normal range while hardness and electrical conductivity of all water samples were recorded above the normal range set by WHO. Concentrations of heavy metals in soil were also compared with WHO standards for heavy metals and in soil samples concentration of heavy metals were recorded above the permissible limits except zinc which was recorded below the permissible limits set by WHO. pH of all soil samples was recorded below the normal range while electrical conductivity of all soil samples was recorded above the normal range. Keywords; Soil, Water, Plants, pH, Conductancy, Heavymetals, Atomic, Absorption. INTRODUCTION Human activities such as industrial production, mining, agriculture and transportation, release high amounts of heavy metals into surface and ground water, soils and ultimately to the biosphere. Accumulation of heavy metals in crop plants is of great concern due to the probability of food contamination through the soil root interface. Though the heavy metal like, Cd, Pb and Ni are not essential for plant growth, they are readily taken up and accumulated by plants in toxic forms. Ingestion of vegetables irrigated with waste water and grown in soils contaminated with heavy metals possess a possible risk to human health and wildlife. Heavy metal concentration in the soil solution plays an important role in controlling metal bioavailability to plants. Most of the studies show that the use of waste water contaminated with heavy metals for irrigation over long period of time increases the heavy metal contents of soils above the permissible limit. Ultimately, increasing the heavy metal content in soil also increases the uptake of heavy metals by plants depending upon the soil type, plant growth stages and plant species [Abbas Ullah Jan et al 2011]. The most important sources of heavy metals in the environment are the anthropogenic activities such as mining, smelting procedures, steel and iron industry, chemical industry, traffic, agriculture as well as domestic activities [ L.Jantschi et al 2008,C,Stihi et al 2006]. Chemical and metallurgical industries are the most important sources of heavy metals in soils [A.Pantelica et al 2008.L.Jantschi et al 2008, V.G, Schutze et al 2007] The presence of heavy metals in soil can affect the wildlife, plant growth etc [Cojcaru et al 2006,I,V,Popescu et al 2009,A,Ene et al 2009]. These heavy metals may adversely affect soil ecology, agricultural production or product quality, and ground water quality, and will ultimately harm to health of living organism by food chain. These effects are closely related to the biological availability of heavy metals, which in turn are controlled by the metal ion speciation in the soil.Therefore, the determination of free metal ion concentrations in soil solution becomes important. The free metal ion concentration not only depends on the total metal content in soils, but also on the metal species that exist in the soil. In addition, some environmental conditions (e.g., pH, concentration of complexing ligands in solution, and the soil colloid). [A,Ene et al 2009] Pollution of heavy metals in aquatic environment is a growing problem worldwide and currently it has reached an alarming rate. There are various sources of heavy metals; some originates from anthropogenic activities like draining RUQIA NAZIR et al /J. Pharm. Sci. & Res. Vol. 7(3), 2015, 89-97