Soil contamination and health risk assessment at coastal Upazilas of the Bangladesh: a case study

Abstract

The present study analyzed soil samples from flood-prone Unions in two Coastal Upazilas of Bangladesh using Proton Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) techniques with Van de Graaff Accelerator for detecting heavy trace elements and Gamma spectrometry techniques. The findings indicate that while Potassium (averaging 19,62 μg/g for Sutarkhali; 21364.67 μg/g for Amtoli) and Calcium (averaging 36,923.92 μg/g for Sutarkhali; 30404.33 μg/g for Amtoli) levels were high naturally, the levels of Lead (averaging 71.8 μg/g for Sutarkhali; 171.44 μg/g for Amtoli), and Chromium (averaging 6.87 μg/g for Sutarkhali; 340.22 μg/g for Amtoli) were posing a serious risk to the inhabitants. The evaluation contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), potential ecological risk index (ERI) and health risk assessment indicate severe heavy metal pollution in both regions, with young children being particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning. Nonetheless, the radiation levels were below the safe limit set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).