Verification Of Penetration Of Lead In The Profile Of Soil Around The Former Battery Production Factory, Berat Albania

Abstract

The current study reports the concentration of lead in top of the soil samples and its penetration until the depth of approximately 120 cm. Representative soil samples are collected around the former Factory Production of Batteries to Berat, Albania at a distance 80 - 900 m from factory. We have chosen 12 sampling points. We have collected a total of 55 samples where 31 were soil samples (12 top of soil and 19 were profile soil samples) and 24 were random vegetation samples. All soil samples were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for their lead content, at the Institute of Applied Nuclear Physics, University of Tirana, Albania. From results obtained the fraction of lead in profile soil samples was in range: 78 mg/kg - 52,982 mg/kg and average concentration of lead was 2976 mg/kg, while in random vegetation samples was in range: 0.238 - 5.573 mg/kg. In general, trend of the content of lead in profile soil samples was decreasing compared to the content of lead in the respective top soil samples. The concentrations of lead which have been found in analyzed soil samples are compared with the Maximum Contaminant Levels specified by the Directive 86/278/EEC. Also, we have calculated Hazardous Quoted for each sampling point which is found very high. HQ in representative surface soil samples is 0.4 - 80.7 times higher than normal.