TITLE:
Heavy Metals in the Northwest Agricultural Region Dominican Republic
AUTHORS:
Ramón Delanoy, Carime Matos Espinosa, Yamilesa Herrera
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metals, Soil Contamination, Agricultural Soils
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.10 No.5,
May
13,
2022
ABSTRACT: Heavy metals currently represent a very important source of
contamination, since their intake by humans and animals in many cases is the
cause of serious damage to health. Soil, air, water and food are the most
common pathways for heavy metals to reach organisms. Since soil is their
origin, in this study we focus on soil analysis to determine the concentration
of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Hg, Cd and Pb, which are the most toxic metals. The
study site is the agricultural soils of the northwestern region of the
Dominican Republic where bananas and rice are the main crops grown. Chromium
levels in most samples exceeded the NOAA-USEPA Probable Effects Level (PEL).
Other heavy metals were within the acceptable ranges for healthy soil,
according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).