| Summary: | Introduction
Environmental contamination has
become a severe problem as a result of urbanization and
industrialization, particularly because of the release of
heavy metals which have drawn a lot of attention due to
their harmful effects, persistence, and bioaccumulation in
the environment.
Methods
The present study, which was conducted from
July to October 2019, provides the spatial distribution,
contamination levels, and health risks assessment for four
heavy metals, Pb, Zn, Cr and Ni, in the urban area within
Baghdad city, depending on the type of activity and the
nature of land use.
Results
The results show that the average value of the
contamination levels for the four heavy metals were within
the reference values of soil in Baghdad city. The pollution
assessment indices geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and
integrated pollution index (IPI), carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic
health index (HI), and hazard quotient (HQ)
were studied. The results of Igeo and IPI in Sheikh Omar
(industrial area), Baghdad Al-Jadida (commercial area), and
Sadr City (high population density) were relatively greater
than in the other areas. The IPI value ranged from 1.51 in
Sheikh Omar to 0.75 in Taji (agricultural area).
Conclusions
The values of the health risk assessment indices
(HI and HQ) indicate that the levels of the four heavy metals
in the studied sites were within the safe limits (<1) and had
no significant health risk for the inhabitants.
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