Abdulrasoul M. Al-Omran, Salem E. El-Maghraby, Mahmoud E.A. Nadeem, Ali M. El-Eter, and Salem M.I. Al Qahtani
Cement factory, physiochemical properties of the Soil, Heavy metals pollution, geo-accumulation index. Pollution index, Pollution index, Enrichment factor (EF).
Eighty composite soil samples were collected from 6 km long (50 -100 m apart) begin from the cement factory in Al-Hasa Oasis, Saudi Arabia as emissions source points till Al Oyoun City which located at (25° 41' 08" N), (49° 31' 29.9" E). At each site, samples were collected at two soil depths (0- 5, and 20-30 cm depth). The collected soil samples were analyzed for their chemical properties as well as their heavy metals content. The obtained results indicated that the studying soil are calcareous in nature having 22.1 to 35.5% CaCO3, sandy loam to loamy sand in texture, the soil pH was moderately to slightly alkaline (mean 7.8). Exchangeable calcium content ranged from (1.47 to 5.44 C.mol/kg) while the mean values of exchangeable potassium reached 0.32Cmol/kg). The effective cation exchange capacity (CEC) had low to medium values (1.94 to 8.14 cmol.kg-1). The CaO percentages were found to be higher (37.74%) especially in the surface soil samples taken near the cement factory. Such values were approximately equal to the initial CaO content of the cement produced by Al-Hasa cement factory. Based on the geo- accumulation index, the soil of the studying area could be classified as moderately to heavily contaminated with (As, Cd, Pb and Ni) and heavily contaminated with Cr, while the studying soil were moderately polluted with Zn.. On the other hand, based on the (EF) the studying soils have a significant contamination with As, Cd and Cu (5> EF >20). The most contaminated sites were situated in the 0 to 2 km away from the cement factory.
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