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LEAD CONTENT IN SOIL AND WHEAT TISSUE ALONG ROADS WITH DIFFERENT
TRAFFIC LOADS IN RAWALPINDI DISTRICT
M.I. LONE, S.H. RAZA, S. MUHAMMAD, M.A. NAEEM AND M. KHALID*
Abstract:
A field study was conducted to evaluate the lead contents in soil and
wheat as affected by vehicle exhausts in Rawalpindi district (Rawalpindi,
Attock and Fatehjang). For this purpose three different traffic roads
varying in traffic densities viz., Pir Vidhai road, Kamra road and Fatehjang
road were selected. On each road five different fields at a distance
of 20, 220, 420, 620 and 820 meters across the road were selected. Wheat
crop was sown in September and October, 2003. All cultural and management
practices were those of farmers of the area. Plant and soil samples
were collected at flag leaf stage. The plant samples were digested in
nitroperchloric acid mixture and soil samples were collected before
and after experiment were extracted with Ammonium bicarbonate-diethylene
triamine pentaacetic acid (AB-DTPA) and lead content was determined
by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The data were statistically
analyzed using regression model. Lead contents of both soil and plant
samples were positively correlated with the traffic density and negatively
correlated to distance from the road. The lead contents in soil and
plants at Pir Vadhai Road (the busiest road) were found to be highest.
Least contents of Lead were found in the soil and plant samples along
Fatehjang road (medium traffic load. Along Kamra road (having the lowest
traffic load), maximum values of Lead contents at 620 and 820 m distance
in the soil and plant samples were attributed to use of Sewage water.
Department of Soil Science& SWC, University of Arid Agriculture,
Murree Road, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
* Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture
Faisalabad, Pakistan.
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