Abstract:
Quarries are regarded as crucial cornerstones of national economic
development in Palestine. But they also have detrimental effects on
the ecosystem and biological resources. Determination of the amount
of heavy metals (chromium, cadmium, and lead) in quarries stumps is
the main objective of the current research study. To accomplish this,
20 quarry stump samples were collected from four distinct regions of
the Hebron Governorate in Palestine, using the quadrat method, and
they were afterward calorimetrically assessed using a UV-visible spectrophotometer and pollution indices. The results reveal that the
stumps possess Cr and Pb concentration below the international
declared levels (1–1000 mg/l and 15–40 mg/l, respectively), while the
Cd is above the declared level (0.2 mg/kg). The Cr and Pb content
ranges from 0.128 to 0.611 mg/L and 0.125 to 0.779 mg/L, respectively.
On contrary, the Cd contents varies from 0.362 to 8.572 mg/L in
Hebron governorate. This level of Cd content, somehow, locate
above their declared level by the international standards. In addition,
the heavy metals content seems to be site-specific in the selected
regions in Hebron governorate. The risk of cadmium is due to its
high concentration, while the risk of Pb is because of its high toxicity.
Moreover, the four regions are considered as uncontaminated and are
clean based on PI Nemerow for Cr and Pb, but not for Cd. In conclusion,
working on quarries in Hebron governorate is still safe from the levels
of heavy metals point of view. However, more control and restriction
must be implanted in order to mitigate its environmental and health
consequences. Moreover, more research is needed to assess the occurrence of other heavy metals and their consequences on biological life
and environmental issues.
