Heavy metal in cabbage and soils from Cameron Highlands
2002
El Idrissi A.S.M. | Mohd. Khanif Y. | Aminuddin H., Putra Malaysia Univ. (UPM), 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia). Faculty of Agriculture. Dept. of Land Management
There are thousands of hectares of land planted with vegetables in Cameron Hoghlands for a number of years. To maintain high yield, fertilizers and pesticides are constantly applied, thus exposing the soils to possible heavy metal contamination. Thus, this study was undertaken to determine the long-term effect of vegetables cultivation on heavy metal concentration in the soils and cabbage. The soils and vegetables were sampled in the farms in Cameron Highlands. Soil samples at 0-20cm, 20-60cm, and vegetables and tubers were collected from different farms. Heavy metals in the soil samples were extracted with aqua-regia, while those in the vegetables tissue were extracted using dry ashing method. The extracts were analyzed for Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cr and Zn by atomic absorption spectrophometer. The results showed that soils in Brinchang and Tanah Rata had very high concentration of Zn;the value 219.8 mg/kg in Brinchang which is above the back-ground v alues A (Dutch standard guidelines). The concentration of Zn in the soil of other farms is below the back-ground values. Brinchang and Tanah Rata have also high concentration of Cu, with values in the range of 61.80 mg/kg -71.20 mg, which is above the background, while it is low for the soils at other locations. Cd is a little bit high in all Cameron Highland farm soils and it decreases with depth. Other heavy metals concentrations in Cameron Highlands soil such as Pb, Cr and Ni, is below the background values. The cabbage from Blue Valley has the highest concentration of Zn, while Tringkap cabbage has the lowest concentration. Bertam Valley cabbage has the highest concentration of Pb, while the lowest concentration of Pb occur in the Blue Valley. Bertam Valley cabbage has also the highest concentration of Cd, while the lowest Cd concentration occur in Blue Valley. Jalin Trisu cabbage has the highest concentration of Ni with lowest concentration in Blue Valley. Finally, Tama n Sedia cabbage had the highest concentration of Cu, while the lowest concentration occur in Kea Farm.
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