Investigating Arsenic Contamination and Pathways into Livestocks of Tekab Area, West Azerbaijan Province
Subject Areas :Fatemeh Hashemi 1 , Farid Moore 2 , Behnam Keshavarzi 3 , Alireza Rahmani Shahraki 4 , Reza Sharifi 5
1 - M.Sc student, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shiraz University
2 - Professore, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shiraz University
3 - Assistant professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shiraz University
4 - Resident in Large Animal Internal Medicine, Veterinary School, Shiraz University
5 - PhD student, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shiraz University
Keywords: Arsenic, Geoaccumulation index, Hemato-biochemical indices, contamination factor, Tekab,
Abstract :
To investigate the effects of livestock's arsenic toxicity in the study area, arsenic concentration measured in thesoil, forage and potable water along with livestock blood samples. Concentrations of arsenic in drinking waterof livestock is less than permissible concentration level reported by USEPA, WHO. Calculation ofgeoaccumulation index and Contamination factor indicate that most of the agricultural soils in the study area arecontaminated by arsenic. Comparison of arsenic mean concentration indicates that arsenic concentration is 53times greater than standard concentration in livestock forage. However, arsenic concentrations in blood samplesare higher than the control area, but still in the normal range. Hematological indices such as HB, RBC, PCV arenormal. The results suggest that despite the high concentration of arsenic in soil and plants, it has not beenpassed to livestock. This study shows that arsenic contamination in drinking water is probably the mostimportant rout for passing arsenic to livestock in contaminated areas.
