Contamination of soils and plants by mercury as influenced by the proximity to industries in Alexandria, Egypt.
The amounts of total Hg in the soils and the edible parts of seven vegetable plant crops grown in unpolluted and polluted soils were studied. The highly polluted soils contained higher levels of Hg (495 ppb) than those in the unpolluted (35 ppb). The topsoil was highly enriched with Hg than the subsoil as the result of the deposition of Hg particulates produced from the industries. Plants grown in soils near industries contained high levels of Hg up to 362 ppb. The amounts of Hg in the plant species which grown in winter were higher than those grown in summer.
D004534:Egypt; D007221:Industry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000032:analysis*
D012989:Soil Pollutants; D008628:Mercury