Abstract

The soil, water and plants of urban and suburban of Coimbatore city showed high concentration of Pb. The soil samples from Coimbatore urban areas, especially along the road sides of National Highways, showed higher pH and EC. A high level (2.11 dSm-1) of EC was noticed in Gandhi Park II location. Lead contents of soils also showed higher accumulation. A maximum of 141.2 mg kg-1 was recorded at MTP Road VI location viz., Goundampalayam Union Road. Water samples also showed higher pH and EC than the acceptable limits. An unusual high level of 2.87 dSm-1 of EC was recorded at MTP Road III location. High concentration of Pb was observed in the water samples. Most of the samples exceeded the maximum permissible limit of Pb (0.1 mg l-1) fixed for drinking water. Most of the predominant species of the plants were found to have accumulated higher amounts (up to 110 mg kg-1) of Pb in Coimbatore urban

Keywords: Lead pollution, soil, water, plants