Distribution of Iron, Zinc and Lead in Soil and Crops in the Mobarakeh Steel Plant Region

Soil pollution and accumulation of heavy metals in crops in the industrial areas are the most important bioenvironmental problems that threaten the life of plants, animals and human. The objective of this study was to determine Fe, Zn and Pb distribution in soil and crops shoots around the Mobarakeh Steel plant. In this study, we separated 50 zones based on soil maps and taking into consideration dominant wind direction (south-western to north-eastern). In each zone, soil were sampled at 0-5, 5-10, 10-20 and 20-40 cm depths (200 samples) and DTPA-extractable concentrations of Fe, Zn and Pb were determined in soil samples. Also 36 plant samples from shoots of 19 main crops were collected in the region and the concentrations of heavy metals were determined in crops samples. Results showed that, the maximum DTPA-extractable concentrations of Fe were in two points at southeast of the plant in 0-5 cm layer (224.4 and 221.2 mg/kg.soil respectively). The maximum DTPA-extractable concentrations of Zn and Pb were in southeast of the plant in 0-5 cm layer (16 and 14.3 mg/kg.soil respectively). The maximum concentrations of Fe in shoots of rice, wheat and bean in southeast of the plant were 2290, 1710 and 2006.7 respectively that were higher than the USEPA standards (100 mg/kg.dry.matter). The maximum concentration of Zn in shoot of tomato in north of the plant was 493.3 mg/kg.dry.matter that was higher than the USEPA standards (20 mg/kg.dry.matter).