Assessment of heavy metals along a contamination gradient in soils collected from industrial areas in northern Tunisia

Ahmed Ouni , Chedliya Ghemari , Amina Ben-Said , Christelle Pruvot (1, 2) , Francis Douay (1, 2) , Karima Nasri-Ammar

1 LGCgE - Laboratoire de Génie Civil et Géo-Environnement (LGCgE) - ULR 4515
2 JUNIA - JUNIA

Many studies were interested in the assessment and the monitoring of soil contamination with heavy metals. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of emissions from the Tunisian Steel Company El Fouladh in Bizerte (Tunisia). In this context, we measured Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd) soil’s concentrations from 8 sites along a contamination gradient. Besides, physicochemical parameters, pH, organic carbon, CEC, and CaCO3 were measured. Heavy metals were determined using an atomic absorption spectrometry. The results revealed a high concentration of heavy metals in the sampled soils. The contamination factor (CF) was determined to assess the soil contamination of the sampling sites, and revealed that the level of contamination varied along a contamination gradient, which may be due to the mobility of metals.

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Ahmed Ouni, Chedliya Ghemari, Amina Ben-Said, Christelle Pruvot, Francis Douay, et al.. Assessment of heavy metals along a contamination gradient in soils collected from industrial areas in northern Tunisia. pp.45-48, 2019. ⟨hal-03248044⟩