Contamination of Arsenic and Other Heavy Metals in Rhizospheric Soil

Abstract

The contamination of arsenic (As) and other heavy metal (HMs) in soil causes serious health hazard to the ecosystem. In this work, the contamination of As and other heavy metals (i.e. Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb) in rhizospheric soil of 14 plants of the severely As contaminated area of Central India is described. Among them, high content of As in the rhizospheric soils was observed, ranging from 0.22 to 4.60 g/kg with mean value of 1.6 ± 0.7 g/kg. The concentration variation, enrichment indices and toxicities of the metals in the soil are described.