Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution Using the Geo-accumulation Index (I-Geo), Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Potential Ecological Risk Index (RI) in Paddy Field Soils Adjacent to Ultrabasic Soils

Abstract

The content of heavy metals was appraised at paddy fields, from a total of 54 soil samples gathered from two locations in Ranau, Sabah and one from the UKM experimental paddy plot in Peninsular Malaysia, during2014 and 2015. Through an appraisal evaluate of contamination using the Index of Geo-accumulation (I geo) it was noted that Chromium and Nickel levels in Ranau field 1 came under grade 6 (I-geo > 5 is considered to be very contaminated), showing that the soil was heavily tainted with Cr and Ni, whilst Cobalt was discovered to be at the grade 3 level (medium to strong contamination). On the other hand, Ranau field 2's I-geo for other metals came under grade 1(which means medium to no contamination), highlighting the fact that the soils in these areas were tainted with the examined metals, while the control field was found to be grade 0 (no contamination). Ranau field 1 showed strong levels of the contamination factor (CF) for Co, Cr, and Ni, and its Pollution Load Index was(PLI) was> 1, denoting a steady degradation in the area, with high levels of pollution compared to those in the other tested areas. The average monomial ecological risk for Ni was found to be between (40 – 80), highlighting that Ni contamination was considered to be of medium danger to the surrounding environment. Through the Potential Ecological Risk Index, it was seen that Ni was a likely hazard and presented a substantial danger. The RI values for the test sites were as follows: season 2015 (2.89) < control for season 2014 (3.18).