Investigation of Quantitative and Qualitative Changes in Vegetation and Soil around Ilam Cement Factory

Today, land degradation and declining of soil and vegetation quality around industrial areas have become a challenge. The purpose of this field research is to evaluate the environmental effects of Ilam Cement Factory on the surrounding areas. In this regard, a systematic sampling network established around the cement factory, then 20 soil samples were taken in different directions and using atomic absorption apparatus, the concentrations of manganese, molybdenum, zinc, cobalt, copper, lead, cadmium, nickel and chromium Soil samples were measured. Then the methods of Geoaccumulation Index, Contamination Factor, and Pollution Load Index were used to determine the distribution of the studied metals. On the other hand, using ETM satellite images for the periods of 1984, 2007 and 2014, the trend of land use change in the region was examined. Then, using Mann-Kendall test, the precipitation trend in the mentioned periods was investigated and the effect of climate change and its role in vegetation changes were investigated. The results showed that the cement factory in the form of both direct land degradation and land quality degradation in the long term due to the accumulation of heavy elements can lead to land use change, land degradation and air pollution in the region. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of industry on the surrounding environment.