POLLUTION ASSESSMENT ALONG THE URBANIZATION GRADIENT BASED ON SOIL AND PLANTS IN THE FAISALABAD METROPOLITAN CITY OF PAKISTAN

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The rise in urbanization causes an increase in the demand for resources and energy resulting in negative impacts in environmental quality including soil, for that reason it is important to understand the relationship between environment, urbanization, and soil quality. In this project soil and tree leaves samples of Neem tree (Azadirachta indica) from the Faisalabad City in Pakistan were analyzed along the urbanization gradient (urban, suburban, and rural) to assess how its characteristics change in different degrees of urbanization, for that the following parameters were analyzed for soil: moisture, organic matter, calcium carbonate content, pH, electrical conductivity, and an elemental analysis (Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn) for leaves samples only the elemental analysis was performed. The results found that urbanization causes significant differences in the BAF and the concentration of metals in both soils and leaves of Neem tree, despite this a clear relationship or pattern could not be identified for the plant uptake, whereas for the case of soil all metals increased its concentration directly with the degree of urbanization. Regarding the environmental safety, it was found that Nickel and Lead concentration on leaves surpass safety limits, whereas for soil only Manganese and Strontium presented concentrations higher than safety limits, this can cause health problems for the surrounding population of the Faisalabad city, as well as toxicity for the plants growing in these soils. Finally, Neem tree showed potential as an hyperaccumulator of strontium with a BAF between 11 to 16, it also proved to be useful as an indicator and accumulator of Cadmium in the environment.

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Urbanization, Soil quality, Heavy metals, Plant metal accumulation, Pollution
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