Correlation of soil magnetic susceptibility with heavy metals and physicochemical profile

Abstract

The present study was conducted to determine magnetic susceptibility and its correlation with concentration of selected heavy metals including arsenic, chromium, cadmium and lead as well as physicochemical properties of topsoil samples collected from a District 5 of Tehran Municipality, Iran. The specimens were collected from 13 stations (0 to 10 cm depth) along with recording the location of the sampling points through the Global Positioning System, and then were analyzed for physicochemical properties, heavy metal concentration (by Atomic absorption spectrometry) and in-situ magnetic susceptibility at low frequency (χlf, by Bartington MS2 Dual Frequency Sensor). According to the results, the highest and lowest χlf values were 34.1 and 16.3 (10−8 m3kg−1) at Stations 3 (Azadi Bus Station) and 11 (Jannatabad neighborhood), respectively. A significant correlation was found between χlf and the concentration of lead and chromium (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a positive and significant correlation between χlf and the soil organic matter in the study area (P<0.01). Based on the research findings, the magnetic susceptibility measure can be used to quickly evaluate the level of soil contamination with heavy metals and also to monitor the changes of soil organic matter.