LEAD LEVELS IN ROADSIDE SOILS AND VEGETATION OF DAMASCUS CITY

This study concentrates on seasonal variations of lead levels in roads ide soils, vegetables and plants of Damascus city. Lead concentrations in soil samples varied from 78.4 ppm to 832 ppm while mean lead level s in plants ranged from 2.6 ppm to 19.3 ppm; the highest levels were f ound to be in grass (44 ppm). In addition, lead levels were lower in s oil samples during the wet period (December to April) whereas, it is h igher in plants during the same period. Moreover, traffic density, dis tance from traffic roads, climate and area topography (up- and down hi ll) were influencing factors in lead levels in both the soil and plant samples. The results have also shown that lead concentration in most of the analyzed vegetable samples was high and normal washing does not decrease it to an acceptable level. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.