Investigation of Contamination of Some Heavy Metals in the Soils around the Darab Cement Factory, Fars Province

Cement factories are one of the most polluting industries in the world. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to investigate the contamination of heavy metals lead, nickel, cadmium, iron, manganese, zinc and copper in the soils around Darab Cement Factory. 30 soil samples were taken from a depth of 0-30 cm from the soil around the Cement Factory. Heavy metal concentrations were measured by atomic adsorption spectrometry. The results showed that the mean values of cadmium, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, iron and manganese in the soils of the region were 1.73, 35.52, 13.71, 27.98, 26.97, 1039.27, and 590.71 mg kg-1 respectively. The average cadmium in the soils of the region (1.71 mg kg-1) is higher than the maximum standard of cadmium in the soils of the world. The average concentrations of metals in the study area are Fe> Mn> Ni> Pb> Zn> Cu> Cd, respectively. The results showed that the mean concentrations of lead, nickel, zinc, copper and cadmium were significantly different from the maximum allowable amount in the soil and was less than that (P <0.01). The results of the risk index showed that 100% of the samples have a low risk index. The study area has a moderate degree of pollution in terms of manganese, cadmium, nickel and lead metals. The pollution load index for all stations is less than 1, indicating the pollution load index in the area close to the normal and non-polluted concentration. In general, although the concentration of heavy metals in the soils of the study area is not in a critical state of pollution, but planning to control the release of heavy metals and other pollutants should be considered.