Title: Assessment of the tannery wastes impact in the soil properties of the disposal site in Sudan

Authors: Mahdi Haroun; Abdelazim Altawil; Gammaa Osman

Addresses: Environmental Health Department, College of Health Sciences, Jumeira University, P.O. Box 555532, Dubai, United Arab Emirates ' Environment, Natural Resources and Desertification, Research Institute (ENDRI), National Centre for Research, Sudan ' Sudan Academy of Sciences, Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract: The present study aims to examine chemical characteristics and heavy metal of tannery wastewater and sludge and to assess their influences on alterations in soil properties of disposal areas in terms of degree of heavy metal contamination and soil solution. Result revealed that soil layers exhibit greater values of soluble cations, anions, and electrical conductivity in tannery wastewater, sludge. Unlimited fluctuation in concentrations of heavy metals in soil profile was detected. Depending on estimated contamination factor (CF) and enrichment factor (EF), soil samples were found to be enriched and polluted with chromium. Simple correlation analysis showed significant progress between heavy metals and soil solution composition parameters. This proposes that both wastewater and sludge of tannery activities are accountable for altering properties of soil solution in term of chemistry and metal toxicity inducement into the soil atmosphere. Accordingly, tannery effluents, wastes, and sludge should not be allowed to be disposed into the environment without proper treatments.

Keywords: tannery wastewater; tannery sludge; metals contamination; enrichment factor; contamination factor; Sudan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEE.2021.118463

International Journal of Environmental Engineering, 2021 Vol.11 No.2, pp.155 - 168

Received: 02 Dec 2019
Accepted: 19 Jan 2021
Published online: 26 Oct 2021 *

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