Distribution of Different Fractions of Lead at Various Horizons of Contaminated Soil Pedons of Coimbatore District, Tamilnadu

The risk to the environment from contaminated soil can not be assessed by simply considering the total amount of potentially toxic metals within the soil because these metals are not necessarily completelymobile or bioavailable. Hence, it is necessary to reduce the fraction of toxic elements which is potentially mobile or bioavailable. Total lead varied from traces to 250 mg/L. The amounts of other lead fractions were 1.31, 4.81, 85.81, 89.31, 63.52 and 50.81mg/L for water soluble, exchangeable and adsorbed, organically bound, carbonate bound, Fe-Mn oxide, and residual fractions respectively. Mobile form of lead was very dangerous and mostly seen in roadside profiles of Ganapathy and Ukkadam.