Application of Contamination Indices for Soil Pollution Assessment by Heavy Metals in Southern Erbil City

Ali, Rafal Hussein; Ahmad, Ismaeel Tahir

doi:10.58928/ku26.17218

	Application of Contamination Indices for Soil Pollution Assessment by Heavy Metals in Southern Erbil City
Kirkuk University Journal for Agricultural Sciences (KUJAS)
Volume 17, Issue 2, June 2026, Pages 163-169 PDF (486.05 K)
Document Type: Research Paper
DOI: 10.58928/ku26.17218
Authors
Rafal Hussein Ali^* ¹; Ismaeel Tahir Ahmad²
¹University of Salahaddin, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, College of Agriculture, Engineering Sciences
²Department of Soil and Water, College of Agriculture Engineering Sciences, University of Salahaddin, Erbil, Iraq
Abstract
The search was carried out in August and September 2024, in two different polluted location in Erbil city. To investigate the impact of sources of pollution on the environment. In order of this, 23 samples of soil were taken from around the cement factory and oil refinery 0-30 cm depth and then concentration of some heavy metals including Cu, Cd and Ni was measured. Then indices such as Geo-accumulation (Igeo), Contamination Factor (CF), pollution load (PLI) and Potential ecological risk index (PERI) were used to determine the effects of heavy metals on the level of pollution in topsoil. This comprehensive multi-index technique provides an in-depth evaluation of the environmental health and potential hazards associated with these industrial activities. According to the results, for the first location cement factory the range of concentration for Cu (91.43 - 377.42), Cd (1.91 - 15.46) and Ni (59.79 - 835.98) mg.kg-1 respectively, and for the second location oil refinery the range of concentration for Cu (122.13 - 409.46), Cd (1.20 - 19.378 ) and Ni (99.42 - 558.39) mg.kg-1 respectively, this mean the cement factory average of HMs (Cu, Cd and Ni) more than average of the heavy metals of the oil refinery. Depending on the indices used under the study, both of the locations are polluted but depending on the class of each indices the cement factory was more polluted than the oil refinery, mainly because the local soil samples had greater levels of heavy metals and particle matter. This increases the negative impacts on the local ecosystem.
Keywords
Contamination Indices; Heavy Metals; Polluted Sites; Cement Factories; and Oil Refineries

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