Chemical Assessment of Heavy Metals Contaminated Soil: A Review of Evaluation Indices

Heavy metals pollution of soils resulting from anthropogenic activities such as mining, smelting, fossil fuel combustion, waste disposal and agricultural activities is an issues receiving continuous attention globally. The pollution of soils by heavy metals is a threat to basic ecosystem functions and services that are necessary to maintain food security, provision of potable water, quality health and sustainable development. The impact of heavy metals on the environment is dependent on an array of factors such as concentration of the metals in the soils, the forms in which the metals exist in the soils, the use to which the soils are put to, as well as soils and ground water chemistry. Therefore, to have a clear picture of the impact of metals’ contamination of soils on the environment, it is imperative to make a thorough assessment. A crucial step towards the assessment of heavy metals’ contamination of soils is to establish a baseline or natural background concentrations from which various assessment techniques can be used to quantify anthropogenic inputs. This piece, attempt a review of some chemical assessment methods used to evaluate heavy metals’ contamination of soils