Determination of Lead in Water, Roadside Soil, Plant and Blood in Basrah City – IRAQ

Abstract

Lead pollution is one of the most important problems in Iraq and causes serious effects to humans and animals. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of lead in main areas of Basrah.Analytical study of lead pollution in Basrah city is carried out. The study included water, dust of sides of the roads, leaves of plants and blood samples from different peoples. Basrah city was divided into different stations from Qurna to Fao.Eight stations for water and 12 stations for dust collected from roadside, plant leaves from 12 stations were also collected. The study also considered 40 blood samples due to the importance of blood pollution of lead. Standard method for determination of lead is taken into account. Water samples were preconcentranted by evaporation and atomic absorption spectrophotometry is then used for quantitative measurement of the final extract. Dust of road sides were extracted with EDTA and then measured after dilution by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Dithizone spectrophotometry is considered common and simple technique; therefore it is used for extraction of lead in leaves and blood. Levels of lead are follows: for water: (0.009 – 0.071) mg / L lead was found, the highest levels of lead is in Ashar river. The lowest level is found in Euphrate river – Qurna, for roadside soil (dust of the road sides): the range of lead was (112 –350) µg / g. The highest pollution is in Marbad square (City Centre) while the lowest value is in Hamdan (Abu Al-Khaseib), for leaves: the range of lead was (0.47 – 3.01) µg / g. Highest levels in Marbad square and the lowest is in university garden in Karma, and for blood: the highest value of lead 66 µg/100 ml is found in traffic officer with 34 years service. The lowest value was found 8 µg/100 ml in child of village respectively