Assessment of soil contamination around municipal solid waste dumpsite

Abstract

Physicochemical and heavy metals characteristics of the municipal solid waste dumpsite, Perungudi, India were investigated. The concentration of heavy metals were analyzed at different depths and distances. The concentration is found to be higher in the top soil upto a depth of 5.5 m as the top soil is a sandy clay layer. Fe, Zn and Cu continue the trend upto a depth of 5.5 m and a change was observed at 6.5 m and the concentrations follow similar values upto 13 m. The concentration decreases with increasing soil depth, which is an indication of their low mobility. It is evident that the variation in the concentration of the heavy metals at various depths in the soils shows that the influence of the dumping activities plays a major role when compared to the geology of the area.