Philippine E-Journals

Heavy Metals Concentration of Roadside Soil and Plants in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Valley, Philippines

Jinky Marie T. Chua | Julius T. Capili

 

Abstract:

The study investigated the level of heavy metals concentration of roadside soil and plants in Tuguegarao City. The study was conducted along Bonifacio road, where six sites were selected. These sites cover the distance from Rizal Street (sites 1-3), an urban area, to the Cagayan River (sites 4-6), a rural area. Soil and plant samples were collected from varying distances (0, 1.5 and 10 meters) at each site. Analysis of Lead, Cadmium, Copper and Zinc were carried out with a Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Results revealed that the trace metal profiles decrease with distance away from the urban area except for Cu. The concentrations of heavy metals in both soils and plants are in order of Cu > Zn> Pb> Cd in decreasing order of concentration. Te levels of the metals are high compared to those of the control samples which indicated that there is accumulation of these metals in the soil and subsequent transfer to plants growing along the highway.