Analytical techniques for estimation of heavy metals in soil ecosystem: a tabulated review.

Soil, an important environmental medium, is exposed to a number of pollutants including toxic heavy metals by various natural and anthropogenic activities. Consequently heavy metal contaminated soil has the potential to pose severe health risks and hazards to humans as well as other living creatures of the ecosystem through various routes of exposure such as direct ingestion, contaminated drinking ground water, food crops, contact with contaminated soil and through food chain. Therefore, it is mandatory to explore various techniques that could efficiently determine the occurrence of heavy metals in soil.