Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination of Agricultural Soil around Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ), Bangladesh: Implication of Seasonal Variation and Indices

Intense urbanization, large scale industrialization and unprecedented population growth in the last few decades have been responsible for lowering environmental quality. Soil contamination with metals is a serious concern due to their toxicity and ability to accumulate in the biota. The present work assessed the heavy metal contamination of agricultural soil in the close vicinity of the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ) in both dry and wet seasons using different indices viz., index of geoaccumulation (Igeo), contamination factor ( ), degree of contamination ( ), modified degree of contamination (mCd) and pollution load index (PLI). Samples were collected from the surface layer of soil and analyzed by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The trend of metals according to average concentration during…