© by PSP Volume 16 – No 10. 2007 Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 1274 DETERMINATION OF TRACE ELEMENTS IN SOIL AND SUNFLOWER (Helianthus annuus L.) PLANT PARTS Temine Sabudak 1* , Gulay Seren 2 , Gul Kaykioglu 1 and Ali Rıza Dincer 1 1 Trakya University, Faculty of Corlu Engineering, Department of Environmental Engineering, 59860 Tekirdag, Turkey 2 Trakya University, Faculty of Science and Art, Department of Chemistry, 22030 Edirne, Turkey SUMMARY Trace elements are currently of environmental concern. They are harmful to humans, animals and tend to bioaccu- mulate into the food chain. In this study, the concentrations of trace elements in soil and sunflower plant parts have been investigated. The concentrations of copper, manga- nese, iron, zinc in soil and sunflower plant samples col- lected from 5 different locations in Corlu, Turkey were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after wet ashing. The maximum concentrations of trace elements per kg soil were 6.37 mg Cu, 0.53 10 3 mg Mn, 1.05 10 3 mg Fe, and 36.07 mg Zn. The orders of their concentrations in soils and plant parts were found to be Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu. The maximum metal concentrations, except for Fe concentra- tion, were observed in the leaves and seeds of plant parts. In addition, the sunflower leaves collected at locations 4 and 5 were observed for phytotoxic Mn concentration. KEYWORDS: Trace element, plant parts, sunflower, soil, atomic absorption spectrometry, toxicity levels. INTRODUCTION The trend in environmental analysis, as in other areas, is towards the determination of even lower concentrations and to the analysis of a greater number of samples for an increasing number of analytes [1]. Increasing attention has been focused on pollution of the natural environment. The threat of pollution of the environment by trace elements is well-known now. All possible sources of metal pollution, such as combustion of fossil fuels, municipal waste incin- eration, industrial processes producing wastewater and emitting pollutants into the air, transport, the agricultural use of sludge and all kinds of waste disposal, need to be investigated, starting with an elemental analysis of the mate- rial involved [2]. In this connection, trace elements are con- sidered to be one of the main sources of pollution in the environment, because they have a significant effect on its ecological quality [3]. Trace elements because of atmospheric and industrial pollution accumulate in the soil, and influence the ecosys- tem nearby [4]. Hence, the investigation of trace elements in soil and plant samples is very important in the point of environmental pollution, especially for plants with nutri- tional requirements. Trace elements may cause toxic effects, if they occur excessively. The bioaccumulation of trace elements over large territories and long time periods, which may result in the gradual damage of living organisms, ne- cessitates careful monitoring of the input, mobility and effects of these pollutants. Metal-accumulating plants, such as Brassica species and Helianthus annuus L., can accu- mulate unusually high concentrations of trace elements in both shoots and roots from polluted soil and waters [5]. Hence, it is necessary to obtain more information about the plants which grow on soils with high concentrations of metals, in order to determine their potential for the man- agement of polluted soils and, especially, for metal ex- traction. Recently, a large number of studies [6-11] have drawn attention to the contents of trace elements in soil and plant. But, such a study has not been carried out until now in Corlu, Turkey. Corlu is located where the most power of industrialization is in Trakya region. It has a population of 250.000. The number of industrial sectors taking part in Corlu is 507. The textile, leather, nourish- ment and chemical organization sectors are in majority in the existing ones of Corlu. The intense production of indus- trial organizations causes industrial pollution in Corlu. In addition, the sunflower plant is the most important agri- cultural plant in Corlu. Approximately 36% of the sun- flower production is made on the agricultural sites of Corlu, and meets approximately 25% production of Turkey. The purpose of the present work was to determine the levels of trace elements (Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn) by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, in soil and roots, stems, leaves, heads, and seeds of sunflower plants collected from Corlu, Turkey. This study was specially conducted to investigate the trace elements speciation in these soils, and the rela- tion this may have to trace element accumulation in the plants.