Evaluation of heavy metals contamination, lead and manganese in the around soils of Yasouj Cement Factory

Atmospheric emissions from cement industry are one of the major sources of environmental pollution. Heavy metals are among the most relevant substances emitted during the process of cement manufacture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the contamination of heavy metals of lead and manganese in the lands around the Yasouj Cement Factory. Sixty one soil samples of land around the factory were sampled at depths of 0-30 cm. Some soil properties such as total concentration of lead, manganese, acidity (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter and calcium carbonate equivalent were measured. To verify the normality of the data the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used. In the normal data series, Kriging method was used to prepare zoning maps. In an abnormal data series, the IDW method was used to prepare zoning maps. PH values ranged from 3.72 to 8.02, the electrical conductivity ranged from 0.07 to 0.96, the organic matter ranged from 0.82 to 2.19 and calcium carbonate equivalent ranged from 18.44 to 54 percent. Lead concentrations in soil samples varied from 2.25 to 168.75 mg kg-1 and manganese values ranged from 45 to 708 mg kg-1. The results of zoning in the study area showed that the highest amount of lead and manganese are inside the factory. The levels of lead and manganese in a number of samples harvested within the factory were higher than the global standard of USEPA, that indicating the accumulation of these metals in the soil and contamination of this factory. From these findings, it is highly recommended that environmental auditing of the cement production line be carried out to reduce the release of pollutants. It is also important that remediation activities be carried out on the soil to reduce the levels of lead and manganese to avert potential ecological disasters.