Heavy Metal Pollution in Soils Exposed to Landfill Leachate: A Case Study of Astaneh Ashrafiyeh, Guilan, Iran

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

1 Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Environment, Lahijan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Lahijan, Iran

10.22059/poll.2025.392529.2862

Abstract

Unsanitary landfills pose a significant threat to human and animal health, the functions of soil and water ecosystems through release of heavy metals. Open and unsanitary landfills near cities and forests are a problem in northern Iran. This research aimed to study the concentration of heavy metals in the dumpsites of Kisom, Kashal Azadsara, Nazoksara, and Amirkiasar (Astaneh Ashrafiyeh County, Guilan province, Iran). For this purpose, 46 composite samples were collected from the downslope and upslope soils of various landfills (0-30 and 30-60 cm depths) in Astaneh County. Heavy metals were extracted using nitric and hydrochloric acids, and their concentration was measured by ICP-OES. The investigation of metal concentrations in the soil of landfills revealed high levels of arsenic (23–30 mg/kg) and lead (138–357 mg/kg), exceeding the risk thresholds. Based on the geo-accumulation (Igeo) and contamination factor (CF) indexes, elements lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) in Kisom and Amirkiasar landfills, were classified as moderate-moderate and very high-strong contamination respectively. Outcomes of the Pollution Load (PLI) and Modified Contamination Degree (mCd) indexes showed that the Kisom landfill and its downstream areas were in the moderate contamination classification. Calculation of ecological risk (ER) demonstrated that the Kisom landfill and its downstream areas are at significant to moderate risk from lead. In addition, the Kisom landfill has a 49% possibility of heavy metal pollution and the other sites have a 21% probability of contamination according to the mean ERM index.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Abrahim, G. M. S., & Parker, R. J. (2008). Assessment of heavy metal enrichment factors and the degree of contamination in marine sediments from Tamaki Estuary, Auckland, New Zealand. Environmental monitoring and assessment,. 136 (1); 227-238.
Ashrafi, S. M. , Mollashahi, M. and Ravanbakhsh, H. (2022). Investigating the effects of Urban Landfill on soil and plant biodiversity of Zarandin forest. Journal of Environmental Science Studies., 7(2); 5024-5031. 
Beinabaj, S. M. H., Heydariyan, H., Aleii, H. M., & Hosseinzadeh, A. (2023). Concentration of heavy metals in leachate, soil, and plants in Tehran’s landfill: Investigation of the effect of landfill age on the intensity of pollution. Heliyon., 9 (1).
Collin, S., Baskar, A., Geevarghese, D. M., Ali, M. N. V. S., Bahubali, P., Choudhary, R., ... & Swamiappan, S. (2022). Bioaccumulation of lead (Pb) and its effects in plants: A review. Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters., 3; 100064
Cuomo, D., Foster, M. J., & Threadgill, D. (2022). Systemic review of genetic and epigenetic factors underlying differential toxicity to environmental lead (Pb) exposure. Environmental Science and Pollution Research., 29 (24); 35583-35598.
Das, A. (2023). Nanotheranostics: the toxicological implications. In Design and Applications of Theranostic Nanomedicines (pp. 369-394). Woodhead Publishing.
de Souza, V. B., Hollas, C. E., Bortoli, M., Manosso, F. C., & de Souza, D. Z. (2023). Heavy metal contamination in soils of a decommissioned landfill southern Brazil: Ecological and health risk assessment. Chemosphere., 339; 139689.
Du, C., & Li, Z. (2023). Contamination and health risks of heavy metals in the soil of a historical landfill in northern China. Chemosphere., 313; 137349.
Esmaeilzadeh, M., Karbassi, A., & Moattar, F. (2016). Heavy metals in sediments and their bioaccumulation in Phragmites australis in the Anzali wetland of Iran. Chinese journal of oceanology and limnology., 34; 810-820.
Famurewa, A. C., Renu, K., Eladl, M. A., Chakraborty, R., Myakala, H., El-Sherbiny, M., … & Gopalakrishnan, A. V. (2022). Hesperidin and hesperetin against heavy metal toxicity: Insight on the molecular mechanism of mitigation. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy., 149; 112914.
Gupta, A., Dubey, P., Kumar, M., Roy, A., Sharma, D., Khan, M. M., ... & Hasanuzzaman, M. (2022). Consequences of arsenic contamination on plants and mycoremediation-mediated arsenic stress tolerance for sustainable agriculture. Plants., 11 (23); 3220.
Hakanson, L. (1980). An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water research., 14(8); 975-1001.
Hashmi, M. Z., Khan, S., Kavil, Y. N., Alelyani, S. S., Al Sehemi, A. G., Hasnain, A., ... & Ahmed, Z. (2024). Spatial distribution and health risks assessment of heavy metals in e-waste dumping sites from Pakistan. Environmental Geochemistry and Health., 46(8); 279. 
Harikumar, P. S., Nasir, U. P., & Rahman, M. M. (2009). Distribution of heavy metals in the core sediments of a tropical wetland system. International Journal of Environmental Science & Technology., 6; 225-232.
Hou, S., Zheng, N., Tang, L., Ji, X., & Li, Y. (2019). Effect of soil pH and organicmatter content on heavy metals availability in maize (Zea mays L.) rhizospheric soil of non-ferrous metals smelting area. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment., 191(10); 634. 
Jamshidi, S., & Bastami, K. D. (2016). Metal contamination and its ecological risk assessment in the surface sediments of Anzali wetland, Caspian Sea. Marine pollution bulletin., 113(1-2); 559-565.
Jayasundara, R. B. C. D., Udayagee, K. P. P., Karunarathna, A. K., Manage, P. M., Nugara, R. N., & Abhayapala, K. M. R. D. (2023). Permeable reactive barriers as an in situ groundwater remediation technique for open solid waste dumpsites: a review and prospect. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution., 234(1); 50.
Karimian, S., Shekoohiyan, S., & Moussavi, G. (2021). Health and ecological risk assessment and simulation of heavy metal-contaminated soil of Tehran landfill. RSC advances., 11(14); 8080-8095.
Long, E. R., Macdonald, D. D., Smith, S. L., & Calder, F. D. (1995). Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environmental management., 19; 81-97.
Marinho, A. P. F. D., Nascimento, C. W. A. D., & Cunha, K. P. V. D. (2022). Soil degradation and Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn contamination in dumpsites of humid and semiarid tropical regions in northeastern Brazil. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment., 194(7); 459.
Martin, J.M., & Meybeck, M. (1979). Elemental Mass-Balance of Material Carried by Major World Rivers. Mar. Chem., 7 (3);178-206.
Muller, G. (1979). Heavy metals in the sediment of the Rhine-Changes seity. Umsch. Wiss. Tech.79;778-783.
Pandey, J. and Singh, R. (2017). Heavy metals in sediments of Ganga River: up- and downstream urban influences. Applied Water Science., 7(4); 1669–1678.
Peng, X., Jiang, Y., Chen, Z., Osman, A. I., Farghali, M., Rooney, D. W., & Yap, P. S. (2023). Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review. Environmental Chemistry Letters., 21 (2); 765-801.
Pu, Y., Sun, Q., Yang, J., Wang, H., Xu, X., Wang, J., & Zhan, M. (2024). Pollution characteristics and risk assessment of heavy metals in the soil of a municipal solid waste landfill site. Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal., 1-18.
Rajawat, N. K., Bhardwaj, K., & Mathur, N. (2022). Risk of Parkinson disease associated with pesticide exposure and protection by probiotics. Materials Today: Proceedings, 69; A1-A11.
Rouhani, A., & Hejcman, M. (2024). A review of soil pollution around municipal solid waste landfills in Iran and comparable instances from other parts of the world. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology., 1-18.
Saadatlu, E. A., Barzinpour, F., & Yaghoubi, S. (2022). A sustainable model for municipal solid waste system considering global warming potential impact: A case study. Computers & Industrial Engineering., 169; 108127.
Sanga, V. F., & Pius, C. F. (2024). Heavy metal contamination in soil and food crops and associated human health risks in the vicinity of Iringa Municipal dumpsite, Tanzania. Discover Environment., 2(1); 104.
Serdarevic, A. (2018). Landfill leachate management—control and treatment. In Advanced Technologies, Systems, and Applications II: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Innovative and Interdisciplinary Applications of Advanced Technologies (IAT) (pp. 618-632). Springer International Publishing.
Shariati, S., Pourbabaee A.A., Alikhani, H.A. & Rezaei, K. (2019). Investigation of Heavy Metal Contamination in the Surface Sediments of Anzali Wetland in North of Iran. Pollution., 5 (1); 211-224.
Souza-Arroyo, V., Fabián, J. J., Bucio-Ortiz, L., Miranda-Labra, R. U., Gomez-Quiroz, L. E., & Gutiérrez-Ruiz, M. C. (2022). The mechanism of the cadmium-induced toxicity and cellular response in the liver. Toxicology., 480; 153339.
Tahir, I., & Alkheraije, K. A. (2023). A review of important heavy metals toxicity with special emphasis on nephrotoxicity and its management in cattle. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 10; 1149720.
Wang, S., Han, Z., Wang, J., He, X., Zhou, Z., & Hu, X. (2022). Environmental risk assessment and factors influencing heavy metal concentrations in the soil of municipal solid waste landfills. Waste Management., 139; 330-340.
Upadhyay, K., Viramgami, A., Balachandar, R., Pagdhune, A., Shaikh, I., & Sivaperumal, P. (2023). Development and validation of Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry method and its application for clinical evaluation of blood lead levels among occupationally exposed lead smelting plant workers. Analytical Sciences., 39 (4); 517-526.
Zhang, J., Hamza, A., Xie, Z., Hussain, S., Brestic, M., Tahir, M. A., ... & Shabala, S. (2021). Arsenic transport and interaction with plant metabolism: Clues for improving agricultural productivity and food safety. Environmental Pollution., 290; 117987.