Heavy metal profiles of agricultural soils in Sakarya, Turkey

Sakarya is famous for cucurbit productions in Turkey and cucurbits can grow as big as 560 kg of weight per fruit in its agricultural areas. There is no or limited information about contaminant levels and profiles of the agricultural fields in Sakarya. The purpose of this study is to investigate the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (naphthalene, phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene) and heavy metal (As, Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn) concentrations of the selected fields. Total 33 soil samples were collected from 12 counties of Sakarya where both cucurbits have been produced and organochlorine pesticides have been applied to the fields for more than 30 y during the historical plantation periods. Heavy metal and PAH contents in the soil samples were measured by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy and a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The highest phenanthrene, pyrene, and fluoranthene concentrations were measured as 63.50 ng/g, 134.34 ng/g, 140.0 ng/g, respectively in the soil samples from Geyve County. Cu, Ni, and Cr concentrations were measured as 108.2 mg/kg, 219.9 mg/kg, and 173.1 mg/kg, respectively in Geyve's samples which were also the highest and 2-7 times more than the limit values given in the Turkish Soil Pollution Control Regulation. Precautions need to be taken for Sakarya's agricultural fields which are an important milestone of Turkey's cucurbit and fruit productions since the contaminants can be accumulated in the fruits and edible parts of the plants.