Trace Elements in the Soil of Phumi Khleang Village, Kandal Province, Cambodia

Alireza Yavar¹, Sukiman Bin Sarmani², Ainon Hamzah³, Jamal Hisham Hashim⁴, Syed Mohamed Aljunid⁴ and Khoo Kok Siong^1,

¹School of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, The National University of Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

²School of Chemical Sciences & Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, The National University of Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

³School of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, The National University of Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

⁴United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Jalan Yaacob Latiff Bandar, Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Cite this paper:
Alireza Yavar, Sukiman Bin Sarmani, Ainon Hamzah, Jamal Hisham Hashim, Syed Mohamed Aljunid and Khoo Kok Siong. Trace Elements in the Soil of Phumi Khleang Village, Kandal Province, Cambodia. Journal of Environment Pollution and Human Health. 2014; 2(3):63-68. doi: 10.12691/jephh-2-3-2

Abstract

A credible database of the elemental concentrations in the soils of a region is essential for monitoring changes in elemental contamination. Naturally occurring toxic elements in the environment are a serious problem in at least 10 provinces of Cambodia, and Kandal is one of the most greatly affected. We used the k₀-instrumental neutron activation analysis (k₀-INAA) method to determine the concentrations of As, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Eu, Fe, Gd, Hf, Ir, K, La, Lu, Mn, Na, Pa, Pm, Sc, Sm, and Zn in 8 soil samples from Phumi Khleang Village, Cambodia. The accuracy of the method was appraised by analysing IAEA-Soil 7, IAEA-SL 1, NBS SRM 1633A-1, and IAEA-Soil 375 as the reference materials. The baseline concentrations of 4 potentially toxic elements were as follows: As, 15.90–17.03 mg/kg; Cr, 48.89–80.45 mg/kg; Mn, 620–719 mg/kg; and Zn, 61.52–150.20 mg/kg. The consumption of toxic metals in soil is a risk to public health in the studied regions.

Keywords:
baseline concentration soil contamination k₀-instrumental neutron activation analysis Cambodia

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