Research Article Open Access
Volume 6 • Issue 6 • 1000413
J Environ Anal Toxicol, an open access journal
ISSN: 2161-0525
Open Access Research Article
Journal of
Environmental & Analytical Toxicology
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ISSN: 2161-0525
Jadoon et al., J Environ Anal Toxicol 2016, 6:6
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0525.1000413
Keywords: Soil pollution; Bazian; Physicochemical parameters
Introduction
Cement is the most common material that is used in wide range of
construction applications nowadays, such as pavement, houses, ofces,
roads, bridges and water supply system such as dams and cement
is the main part in concrete. It becomes hard when it is mixed with
water [1-7]. Tere are two common types of cement hydraulic and
non- hydraulic which are based on the ability of the cement that can
be hardened or set by the chemical interaction with water, Portland
cement is one of the extensively used types of cement and it is the
hydraulic sort that means it can be hardened under water. Te chemical
composition of Portland cement consists of lime (calcium oxide, CaO)
mixed with silica (silicon dioxide, SiO
2
), usually containing calcium
sulfate (CaSO
4
) and alumina (aluminum oxide, Al
2
O
3
) [8,9]. Te top
three countries for producing cement, in particular Portland cement
are, China, India and the USA. Between 2005 to 2010 China to produce
2,480 million tons of cement per year. Because of most fast developing
building construction and population growth in most countries and
especially in Kurdistan where there are a lot of mountains with a wide
range of limestone that is suitable for producing cement, demand on
cement industry year afer year will be more. Terefore, a lot of cement
industries come to Kurdistan to establish factories and to provide
cement for the foundations and structures of the buildings which we
live and work in. Cement plants have been named the 17 most pollutant
industries by the central control board. For instance, Bazian cement
plant established since 2008 in Kurdistan located about 30 kilometers
away from Sulaimanyah, is able to produce is about 2.5 million tons
per year. With certainty, all cement factories to some extent has cause
environmental pollution. Te most important point of view is that we
must be concerned with the environment and at least, we would be able
to reduce the rate of pollution by the cement industry. Te three major
types of environmental pollution by cement the industry are air, water
and soil pollution which are dangerous for human health. Cement
industry releases carbon dioxide into air directly by the heating of
limestone, as well as the blasting in quarries causes of dust and pollutes
air. Te likewise, water can be polluted by the cement industry by the
way of throwing their waste into the water system and this will lead to
increased alkalinity levels of the water as high as 12 pH Soil composition
made up 45 percent of mineral, 25 percent of air, 25 percent of water
and only 5 percent of organic matter, therefore soil can be polluted by
the Cement industry by exchanging their properties such as increasing
levels of the toxic substances in soil, and a change in pH, K, Ca, Mg, and
soil organic matter. Tis research paper will focus on soil pollution due
to the cement plants [10,11].
Methodology
For the determination of the physiochemical properties of the
contaminated soil samples 600 model Plaintest micro was used to
determine the pH, TDS, and electric conductivity respectively (600
modle Plaintest micro, UK). In addition, for the determination of the
anions concentration Sulphate and Nitrate in the contaminated water
samples, UV/Visible Spectrophotometer was employed (modle 6705
UV/Vis Jenway, UK). While, for the Cations concentration which are
(Ca
+2
, Pb
+2
), instrumental techniques were employed to determine the
concentrations. Tese instruments are respectively fame photometer
for calcium determination (Model PFP7 Jenway, UK), and Atomic
absorption spectrophotometer for Lead Concentration (Model 210/211/
Buck Scientifc) [12-21].
Results and Discussion
Results
Te parameters in control soil like electrical conductivity, pH, lead
Soil Pollution by the Cement Industry in the Bazian Vicinity, Kurdistan
Region
Saima Jadoon
1
*, Abdulfattah Ahmad Amin
2
, Arif Malik
3
and Hamza Kamal
1
*
1
Department of Natural Resources Engineering and Management, University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Erbil, Iraq
2
Erbil Technology Institute, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq
3
Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
The three most signifcant things in our life are air, water, and soil which are essential for life and any imbalance of
these three cause a big problem in nature. Soil is one of the most common agents in life and supplies us with all the
basic necessities. Portland cement is one of the common types of cement which is used in construction nowadays. But
soil can be polluted by cement plants, where cement industries are established. The chemical composition of cement is
a mixture of calcium aluminum silicate also, a trace amount of Cd, Pb, Fe, Ti and silica. According to several chemical
analyses the area surrounding industries show that the further the area is from the factory, the better as soil pollution
decreases. In this research paper, we checked the physiochemical pH, electrical conductivity, nitrate ions, sulphate
ions, Lead ions and calcium ions content in soil in the Bazian area. The area is far from the surrounding industries and
this shows that the further the area is from the factory, the better as soil pollution decreases. There is positive correlation
between the calcium ions and electrical conductivity. There is negative correlation between pH and concentration of lead
ions. There is also weak correlation between sulphate and nitrate ions concentrations in soil samples.
*Corresponding authors: Saima Jadoon, Department of Natural Resources
Engineering and Management, University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Erbil, Iraq, Tel:
+009647510307184; E-mail: saima.jadoon95@gmail.com
Hamza Kamal, Department of Natural Resources Engineering and Management,
University of Kurdistan Hewlêr, Erbil, Iraq, E-mail: h.kamal1@ukh.edu.krd
Received July 11, 2016; Accepted October 17, 2016; Published October 24, 2016
Citation: Jadoon S, Amin AA, Malik A, Kamal H (2016) Soil Pollution by the Cement
Industry in the Bazian Vicinity, Kurdistan Region. J Environ Anal Toxicol 6: 413. doi:
10.4172/2161-0525.1000413
Copyright: © 2016 Jadoon S, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.