## 3 Results and Discussion
### Assessment of Soil Contamination
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **Depth** & \(\text{Pt}_{Cd}\) & \(\text{Pt}_{Co}\) & \(\text{Pt}_{C}\) & \(\text{Pt}_{Cu}\) & \(\text{Pt}_{Ni}\) & \(\text{PI}_{\text{Pb}}\) & \(\text{PI}_{\text{Zn}}\) \\ \hline T-1a & 0–5 & 0.24 & 0.19 & 1.2.7 & 2.20 & 1.86 & 0.64 & 1.37 \\ T-1b & 5–30 & 0.23 & 0.49 & 4.96 & 1.89 & 1.92 & 1.00 & 1.23 \\ T-2a & 0–5 & 0.10 & 0.39 & 3.25 & 1.25 & 2.11 & 0.17 & 1.05 \\ T-2b & 5–30 & 0.11 & 0.36 & 2.78 & 1.26 & 1.79 & 0.30 & 0.98 \\ T-3a & 0–5 & 0.06 & 0.55 & 3.45 & 1.04 & 2.22 & 0.25 & 0.73 \\ T-3b & 5–30 & 0.05 & 0.54 & 3.51 & 0.97 & 2.08 & 0.24 & 0.65 \\ T-4a & 0–5 & 0.08 & 0.36 & 3.59 & 0.86 & 1.76 & 0.16 & 0.60 \\ T-4b & 5–30 & 0.09 & 0.36 & 3.71 & 0.89 & 1.83 & 0.20 & 0.67 \\ T-5a & 0–5 & 0.06 & 0.50 & 3.40 & 0.88 & 2.01 & 0.27 & 0.69 \\ T-5b & 5–30 & 0.05 & 0.53 & 3.66 & 0.86 & 1.75 & 0.34 & 0.67 \\ T-6a & 0–5 & 0.24 & 0.55 & 1.19 & 3.05 & 1.78 & 0.45 & 0.78 \\ T-6b & 5–30 & 0.26 & 0.57 & 1.86 & 3.41 & 1.74 & 0.32 & 0.76 \\ S-1a & 0–5 & 0.18 & 0.59 & 4.87 & 0.95 & 2.08 & 0.75 & 0.69 \\ S-1b & 5–30 & 0.14 & 0.59 & 4.12 & 0.95 & 2.07 & 0.74 & 0.63 \\ S-2a & 0–5 & 0.14 & 0.59 & 7.18 & 1.15 & 1.78 & 0.68 & 0.80 \\ S-2b & 5–30 & 0.13 & 0.63 & 1.64 & 0.99 & 1.81 & 0.67 & 0.71 \\ V-1a & 0–5 & 0.16 & 0.35 & 3.90 & 1.17 & 1.57 & 0.57 & 0.73 \\ V-1b & 5–30 & 0.16 & 0.33 & 4.11 & 1.23 & 1.51 & 0.49 & 0.73 \\ V-2a & 0–5 & 0.14 & 0.75 & 9.26 & 1.48 & 2.31 & 0.71 & 0.92 \\ V-2b & 5–30 & 0.15 & 0.67 & 1.65 & 1.71 & 2.78 & 0.67 & 1.04 \\ V-3a & 0–5 & 0.13 & 0.46 & 7.84 & 1.58 & 2.20 & 0.52 & 1.03 \\ V-3b & 5–30 & 0.11 & 0.38 & 7.12 & 1.25 & 2.14 & 0.32 & 0.90 \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{_Legend_} & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & & & & & & & \\ \hline  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & & & & & & & \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 8: \(\text{PI}_{\text{i}}\) values for the agricultural layers of soil in the Lower Danube Basin. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Sample** & **Depth** & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Cd}\) & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Cr}\) & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Cr}\) & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Ni}\) & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Pb}\) & \(\text{E}_{r}{}^{Zn}\) & PERI \\ \hline T-1a & 0–5 & 7.07 & 25.54 & 10.99 & 9.30 & 3.19 & 2.73 & 58.82 \\ T-1b & 5–30 & 6.79 & 9.93 & 9.43 & 9.60 & 4.99 & 2.45 & 43.19 \\ T-2a & 0–5 & 3.04 & 6.51 & 6.26 & 10.54 & 0.84 & 2.09 & 29.27 \\ T-2b & 5–30 & 3.37 & 5.55 & 6.28 & 8.97 & 1.48 & 1.96 & 27.61 \\ T-3a & 0–5 & 1.80 & 6.89 & 5.19 & 11.11 & 1.23 & 1.46 & 27.67 \\ T-3b & 5–30 & 1.53 & 7.01 & 4.85 & 10.42 & 1.22 & 1.30 & 26.33 \\ T-4a & 0–5 & 2.53 & 7.18 & 4.28 & 8.82 & 0.80 & 1.21 & 24.82 \\ T-4b & 5–30 & 2.73 & 7.43 & 4.46 & 9.16 & 0.98 & 1.34 & 26.08 \\ T-5a & 0–5 & 1.82 & 6.80 & 4.38 & 10.05 & 1.35 & 1.39 & 25.79 \\ T-5b & 5–30 & 1.56 & 7.33 & 4.28 & 8.75 & 1.70 & 1.34 & 24.95 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 9: PERI and \(\text{E}_{r}^{\text{i}}\) values for the agricultural layers of soil in the Lower Danube Basin. The Contamination Severity Index (CSI) was used to evaluate the level of toxicity in the soil environment and identify any adverse impacts. The results for CSI (Table 10) indicated that, overall, there was a very low level of soil contamination (Class 2). However, in specific sites such as T-1a, T-1b, S-1a, S-1b, and V-1a, the CSI values highlighted a low level of soil contamination (Third Class). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  
The mERM\({}_{\text{Q}}\) index was utilized to assess the potential for metal toxicity in the soil environment. The results for mERM\({}_{\text{Q}}\) (Table 10) show a relatively low risk with a probability of toxicity estimated at 9%. These findings reveal that the potential for metal toxicity in the soil ecosystem is not a significant cause for concern.