ABSTRACT

The industrial area in generally is witnessed by red sandy soil. The soil covers extends up to 1 to 2 m below the ground level. It is porous, non sticky and non clayey. This area is located on a highly undulating terrain. The highly undulating topography with dendritic nature has given rise to the origin of many hydrological varying characters. The pollution of soil is a source of danger to the health of people, even to those living in cities. The anthropogenic pollution caused by heavy industries enters plants then goes through the food chain and ultimately endangers human health. Due to industrialization, the pollution load for water, air and soil has increasing day by day. The present study was undertaken on soil contamination in Bidadi Industrial Area, Bidadi, Ramanagara Taluk and District. To find out the heavy metal pollution in soil we carried out the research work by collecting soil samples from different places in Industrial Area. In the present study it reveals that the heavy metal concentrations are at the nearby maximum level. The results shows that Zinc varies from 0.06 to 4.5 mg/kg, Copper varies from 0.29 to 6.84 mg/kg, Manganese varies from 0.94 to 32.14 mg/kg, Iron varies from 2.27 to 28.96 mg/kg, Boron varies from 0.12 to 0.5 mg/kg, Cadmium varies from 0.01 to 0.04 mg/kg, Chromium varies from 0.11 to 0.63 mg/kg, Alluminium found in the range of 21.5 to 77.8 mg/kg, P2O5  is found to be varies from 12 to 96.3 mg/kg,  K2O varies from 15.4 to 117 mg/kg, Organic Carbon is found to be varies from 0.09 to 0.81 and Electric Conductivity varies from 0.04 to 0.22. But from results the value of lead is NIL in most of the samples which is taken out from the Industrial Area. Soil pH varies from 6.30 to 7.50 and is acidic to near neutral and alkaline in nature. Soil pH significantly affects the solubility and mobility of these metals, as most of the metals are soluble in acid soils than in neutral or slightly basic soils. The methodology used has proved to be a useful tool to separate geological and anthropogenic causes of variation in soil heavy metal content and to identify common pollution sources.

Key words: Soil contamination, Heavy metals, Industries-Bidadi