Assessment of the Effects of Wadafiea Solid Waste Dumpsite on the Surrounding Soil Environmental Quality - Khartoum North, Sudan

Abstract

Environmental pollution generated from uncontrolled dumping is a major problem in Sudan due to the lack of a proper waste management system. This study was conducted in Wadafiea dumpsite, Khartoum North, Sudan to determine the physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals concentration in some selected soil samples. This study aimed to assess the risk of heavy metals pollution on physico-chemical properties of soils around the dumpsite and to compare the seasonal variations in concentrations of heavy metals on physico-chemical parameters. The level of pH, CaCO3, EC and heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in soils around dumpsite were determined using pH meter, conductivity meter and atomic absorption spectrophotometer method (AAS). Ten samples of soils were collected in dry and rainy seasons from different directions around the dumpsite of solid waste. The obtained results of the soil samples' analysis showed that alkalinity in the soil of the landfill and around the dumpsite has slightly increased. The concentrations of pH in the dry season were higher than the levels of pH in the rainy season. The heavy metals concentrations in the soil samples in the dry and rainy seasons varied per sample of sampling location and seasons. These findings indicated that the concentration values of heavy metals in the rainy season were higher than in the dry season. The values of all the heavy metals analyzed for samples from the dumpsite and the area adjacent to the landfill were higher than those from the control site suggesting possible mobility of heavy metals from dumpsite to the farmlands through leaching and runoffs, but they were below the values recommended by the World Health Organization and Canadian guideline values. © 2022 - Kalpana Corporation

Keywords Alkalinity, Dumpsite, Environmental pollution, Heavy metals, Landfill, Monitoring, Soil; Solid waste, Sudan