Contamination Features and Quantitative Source Apportionment of Potentially Toxic Elements in the Urban Surface Soil, the Case of Hamedan, West of Iran.

In this study, a total of 180 surface soil samples were collected from a control area and residential, commercial, and industrial regions of Hamedan, Iran during the fall season in 2023. Contents of analyzed elements were then determined using ICP-OES. The results illustrated that the average contents of As, Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Pb were 1.

Pinus eldarica (L.) bark as urban atmospheric trace element pollution bioindicator: pollution status, spatial variations, and quantitative source apportionment based on positive matrix factorization receptor model.

In this study, a total of 180 Pinus eldarica bark samples were collected from different regions of Hamedan megacity, Iran, in 2023, and contents of Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the samples were determined using ICP-OES. The results illustrated that the average contents of all the analyzed elements were greater than those in the background contents, which presumably demonstrated anthropogenic sources of these potentially toxic elements (PTEs). The greatest concentrations of the analyzed PTEs for different functional areas were observed in specimens collected from commercial or industrial areas, indicating the impact of human entries.

Heavy metal concentrations in roadside plants (Achillea wilhelmsii and Cardaria draba) and soils along some highways in Hamedan, west of Iran.

The present study was conducted to analyze the effects of traffic volumes on Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn contents in roadside soils and in two dominant herbaceous species (Achillea wilhelmsii and Cardaria draba) along highways and to evaluate the dynamic characteristics of these elements and their accumulation by the aerial parts and roots of these herbaceous species. The plant samples were collected along 700 m of a 9-km segment of each of the three major highways in Hamedan Province (West Iran) with different traffic volumes: Hamedan-Goltapeh (HG), Hamedan-Razan (HR), and Hamedan-Kermanshah (HK). The results indicated that the mean contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn in the soil samples were 0.