A Comparative Study of Heavy Metal Concentration in Different Layers of Tannery Vicinity Soil and Near Agricultural Soil

This research was conducted to bring out the appropriate level of heavy metal contamination in soil at the site of Buriganga river bank near the Hazaribagh tannery area and the normal agricultural area to evaluate heavy metal contamination in soil due to untreated tannery effluents. AAS flame method was used to determine the concentration of Chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn) in several depths of the soil. Results showed that, the heavy metal concentration in soil at the site of Buriganga river bank in the tannery vicinity and normal agricultural area significantly varies, such as Cr varies (561.71 - 31.23) mg/kg, Zn varies (158.23 - 73.5), Pb varies (70.58 - 24) and Cd varies (2.25 - 0.71) mg/kg in the river bank as well as in the normal agricultural area Cr varies (27.869 - 24.5416) mg/kg, Zn varies (134.167 - 28), Pb varies (25.76 - 22.49) and Cd varies (1.30 - 0.64) mg/kg. The study indicated that heavy metals concentration was found to be significantly higher in river bank soils than in the normal agricultural area. This metal concentration in soil is responsible for the promotion of toxicity in agricultural products. Therefore, the human health and environment are affected by these areas.