Evaluation Of The Contaminated Soil And Its Impacts On Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum L.) Crops In Swabi, Pakistan

This study was conducted to find the contamination in soil and its impacts on the tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) crops irrigated with industrial wastewater. For this purpose, a number of soil samples (both control and contaminated areas) and Nicotiana tabacum crop samples were collected from the Gadoon area and analyzed for major and trace elements. Results showed that the elemental contents in contaminated areas, namely Cr 65.7%, Cd 27.5%, Pb 73%, Cu 56.7%, Zn 54.3%, Co 24%, Fe 31.6%, Mn 39%, Na 49%, Ca 34% and K 42.6% were expressively higher than the control area and Chinese soil standard (CSS). While the elemental contents (mg kg-1) in Nicotiana tabacum crops, namely Cr 5.1, Cd 0.5, Pb 5.0, Ni 4.4, Cu 10.1, Mn 28.6, Na 26, and K 27. The present study depicted that, Cr, Ca, Mg may cause extreme pollution, Cu and Pb may cause moderate pollution, while Zn, Co, and Fe may cause slight pollution. In the contaminated areas, Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, K, and Na were highly accumulated, while the remaining elements were in the normal range. Furthermore, Cr may cause high ecological risks, Pb considerable, while Cd, Cu, Mg and Ca cause moderate ecological risks. The study concluded that industrial wastewater is a major threat to soil and food safety. Furthermore, it is suggested to adopt an optimum soil remediation technique for mitigating soil pollution.