Pollution Research Paper

Vol 41, Issue 3, 2022; Page No.(1008-1015 )

CHEMICAL FERTILIZATION AS POTENTIAL PATHWAYS OF HEAVYMETAL CONTENTS IN AGRICULTURAL SOIL IN MEMARI IIBLOCK, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

PIYUSH MAJI AND BISWARANJAN MISTRI

Abstract

The major purposes of this study were to measure the level of metal pollution, identify the highlypolluting elements and the principal fertilizers as potential sources of metals concentration in theagricultural soil. Extracted heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and Zn) were measured by atomicabsorption spectrophotometer (AAS VGB 210 System). Three identically different fields viz. bareland (Treatment A), bio-compost based fields (Treatment B) and chemical fertilizer-based fields(Treatment C), were selected to conduct this experiment. The findings show that Treatment C wasidentified as a critical condition for Cd (5.2 μg/g), Pb (4.1 μg/g) and Zn (3.9 μg/g), exceeding thecontamination factor limit (Cf =1) and also having the highest value (16.4) of the degree ofcontamination (Cd=16) among the treatments. Pollution Load Index (PLI) also reconfirmed thattreatment C was the major pathway of heavy metals (PLI=1.96) and crossed the standard limit(PLI=<1) of metals accumulation in soil. In the case of fertilizers, analysis came up with the fact thatDAP, superphosphate and zinc sulphate were the maximum potential contributor for primarypollutant metals (Cd, Pb, and Zn). The mentioned fertilizers were also used to apply more than therecommended doses suggested by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) India.