Abstract
Contamination of soil potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has observed in many parts of the world, specifically developing countries such as India. In this study, we only obtained the available data in the literature from 2001 to 2020 on soil PTEs in India. To evaluate the soil contamination, geo-accumulation index and contamination factor (CF) were implemented, along with the health risk assessment was also applied which was proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The mean values obtained for soils of India are Cr (412.28 mg/kg), Cu (159.78 mg/kg), Zn (437.44), Pb (77.25 mg/kg) and As (38.61 mg/kg). The geo-accumulation index and CF showed that Cu, Zn, Ni and As are the main contaminants. The results of health risk show that children are susceptible to both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of the studied PTEs compared to adults.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.