Evaluation of Heavy Metals Pollution by Using Pollution Indices in the Soil of Assiut District, Egypt

ASSIUT District represents an important part of central Nile Valley. It is a complex district containing many big industries, urbanization and agricultural activities. These activities can lead to the pollution of agricultural soil with toxic heavy metals. The aim of this work is the assessment of potential risks of these metals in soils using pollution indices; Enrichment Factor (EF), Index of Geoaccumulation (I-geo), Contamination Factor (CF), Ecological Risk Factor (E-r), Degree of Contamination (C-d), Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI). The present study calculated the mentioned indices for eight heavy metals; As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. Pollution indices calculations revealed that the investigated area can considered generally moderately polluted with the studied heavy metals. The emission of heavy metals from the factories as well as agricultural practices, urban runoff and sewage stations in the zone may be the source of that pollution. Consequently, control methods must be functional to the area adjacent to the factories to diminish the pollution. Finally, the studied cultivated soils showed low pollution than other cultivated soils in Australia, Canada, Germany, Tanzania, Netherlands, USA, as well as other areas in Egypt.