Cypress tree (Cupressus semervirens L.) bark as an indicator for heavy metal pollution in the atmosphere of Amman City,Jordan

Bio-monitoring of air quality in Amman City was investigated by analyzing 36 cypress tree (Cupressus semervirens L.) bark samples from three sites of different anthropogenic activities at the end of summer season 2001. Cypress barks were found to be a good bio-indicator for air pollution in arid regions. Variation in Pb, Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni, Cd, and Cu contents between sites was observed due to different types of activities. Traffic emissions were found to be the main source of heavy metal pollution in the atmosphere of Amman. Lead content was found to be the highest in highly traffic density areas. The industrial part of the city was characterized by high Zn, Mn, Cr, Ni, and Co contents. No significance variations were found in pH values of the bark between the sites. This was attributed to buffering effect of carbonate in the atmosphere originated from soil of the area.     

Heavy Metal Distribution in Valley Sediments in Wadi Al-Karak Catchment Area, South Jordan

Valley sediments samples collected from the major and minor valleys of Al-Karak catchment area (southern Jordan) were leached with hot dilute HCl and analysed for their heavy metals content. The results of leachable metal concentrations indicated the absence of anomalous values for metal occurrences. However, appreciable contamination of the sediments with Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr was observed. Using an index of pollution the extent of contamination was better delineated. The geographical distribution of the samples showed higher Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr concentrations mainly around heavily inhabited areas indicating an anthropogenic source of contamination. Lithological influence indicated from the anomalies of Fe and Mn was found to be very low.     

Reuse of mining wastewater in agricultural activities in Jordan

A pilot study was completed in the Al-Abyad area near phosphate mining activity in Jordan. Six plots of 50 m² each were planted with two types of plant species (Zea mays spp. and Medicago lupulina spp.) and irrigated using three types of water (fresh groundwater, mine wastewater, and hydride water consisting of 50% fresh and 50% mine wastewater) to investigate the suitability of utilizing mine wastewater for food production in the area. Water, soil and plant sampling was completed for each plot over different time intervals and analyzed for heavy metal (Cr⁺⁶, Ni⁺², Zn⁺² and Pb⁺²) in addition to major ionic composition of the water used for irrigation. Crop yield was estimated at the end of the experiment. Plots irrigated with mine wastewater showed slightly higher heavy metals concentrations and soil salinity during the experiment period was higher for plots irrigated with mine wastewater compared to plots irrigated with fresh water, and it was uniform through the upper 45 cm of the soil profile due to the high amount of irrigation water used during the experiment. Crop yield was inversely proportional to salinity as an increase of salinity by 2-folds resulted in reducing yield by almost 50%. However, no risk of heavy metals contamination was found in plants and soil. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Qualitative evaluation of the mineralogical and chemical composition of dry deposition in the central and southern highlands of Jordan

The chemical and mineralogical composition of dry deposition in the western highlands of central and south Jordan at the end of the summer season 2000, reflect the composition of soils in addition to anthropogenic activities at these areas. Calcite predominated in the central region whereas calcite and quartz are the dominant minerals in south Jordan. The concentrations of Hg, Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn were higher in central Jordan, which might be attributed to higher anthropogenic activities than south. On the other hand, Fe, Mn, Ti, Ba, Sr, Y and Rb were higher in the south of Jordan reflecting the composition of soil at these sites. At Aqaba city, the only port of Jordan, where Cr, Cd, As and S were higher than other areas. This variation might be attributed to the contribution of phosphate dust in the atmosphere through handling processes.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in rain and street runoff in Amman, Jordan

Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) were determined in the rain and street runoff samples from two sites in the vicinity of Amman City during the pluvial period 1999--2000. The results showed that elevated levels of PAHs were detected in the city center(site 1 ) than the residential area( site 2) and that the levels were higher in street runoff than rain samples of the same sites. The highest concentration of PAHs in both street runoff and rain samples were observed in the first rainy month( November 1999) which indicated a wash out effect of PAHs originating from vehicular emission accumulated during the long dry summer season before sampling. Within the investigated cold winter seasons, fluctuations in PAHs concentration were observed. The variation was attributed to the fossil combustion for heating purposes and to intervals between rainfalls: as the longer the intervals between rains were, the higher the PAH concentration were. Removal of PAHs from the atmosphere through precipitation over the investigated period varied with time and places depending on the amount of rainfall where higher rainfall removed higher amount of PAHs from the almosphere. The amount of PAHs washed out through precipitation was estimated to be around 14.8 mg/m^2 and 21.1 mg/m^2 for sites 1 and 2 respectively.     

Vehicular Contamination of Dust in Amman, Jordan

Road dust from four traffic areas; the city center, tunnels, closed car parks and a residential area was collected from the urban part of Amman and analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals content.Total PAH and selected heavy metals were in the range of a few gg^–1. The distribution of PAH was controlled by the arid climatic conditions. PAH distribution in the street dust tended to be dominated by 4- and 6-ring PAHs with significantly less 2- and 3-ring PAH reflecting volatilization of the latter under the hot and dry climatic conditions. However, both PAH and heavy metal concentrations were affected by the densities and conditions of traffic activity at the various sites. Generally, the highest concentrations of both PAH and heavy metals were found in the tunnels and the lowest in the residential areas.Significant correlation between PAH and total organic matter (TOM), lead and cadmium indicated that PAH and heavy metals in street dust of heavily traffic areas are strongly affected by automobile exhaust emission and that those in the residential areas have another source, most probably street material erosion.     

Pesticides and Trace Metals Residue in Grape and Home made Wine in Jordan

Sixty home made wine and sixty-four grape samples were collectedfrom five territories in Jordan, where grapes and wine aremostly producted. The collected samples were analyzed for themost used organochlorine pesticides (OCP) and organophosphorouspesticides (OPP) in Jordan, as well as for four heavy metals(Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb). The results showed that OCPs residues weredetected in 73% of the wine samples but no OPPs residue weredetected which is due to generally shorter half life of thelater pesticide. Grapes showed higher incident of contaminationthan wine, however, OCPs and OPPs with both short and longhalf-lives were detected. The OPPs were detected in only8.3% of the analyzed grape samples. Heavy metals showed higher valuesin grapes than in the wine samples and it was attributed toremoval of solids during wine preparation processes or throughcontamination of wine during storage. Most of the samples werebelow toxic limit.