Concentration of pb, cu, zn and cd in the roadside soil of doha: Effect of traffic volume and season

Abstract

The concentration of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) in the roadside soil of Doha was evaluated. Three different roads were selected for the study namely, Mesrif street, Salwa road and Cornish street representing low, medium and high traffic volume, respectively. The roadside soil samples were collected during summer and winter seasons. The average concentration of Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd was 10.76 ppm, 27.93 ppm, 190.07 ppm and 0.16 ppm, respectively. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a high correlation between Cu and Zn in the summer and a high correlation between Zn and Cd in the winter. This high correlation indicates that the sources of the heavy metals were the same. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant relationship between traffic volume and season and Zn and Cd concentration.