Evaluations of Some Trace Metal Levels from the Leaves of Salix nigra in Hayatabad Industrial Estate Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Abstract

Plants are crucial components of eco and agrosystems & are the first compartment of the telluric food chain. When grown-up on contaminated soils, they become latent threat to human and animal fitness as they may gather some toxic elements (e.g., metals) in their tissues and causing many serious problems. A new preliminary draft report by "ArizonaSkyWatch" shows dramatic increases in heavy metals that simply do not belong in our air. These figures indicate how many times they are over the allowable toxic limit: Cd 6.0, Cr 6.4 & Zn 7.5. The current study was aimed to evaluate chromium, zinc and cadmium in the leaves of Salix nigra using atomic absorption spectrometry (UV-750 Spectrophotometer). The results showed higher concentration of chromium in S. nigra (0.079 mg/Kg). Zinc and cadmium were with values of 0.55 and 0.04 mg/kg. The chromium levels in the leaves of S. nigra falls above the acceptable limits whereas zinc content exceeds the FAO/WHO set limits which are (99.4 and 0.20 mg/kg). The sturdy connection between the degree of contamination and concentrations in all plant leaves displayed the results that the leaves of S. nigra imitate the environmental changes accurately, and that they seem as an effective biomonitor of environmental quality in areas subjected to industrial and traffic pollutions.