Investigating heavy metal pollution (Pb, Cd, Ar) in sour orange juice at streets of Shiraz

Industrial development and expansion of urban and suburban traffic in developed countries and recently in Iran, have led to a high environmental pollution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the heavy metal pollution (Pb, Cd, Ar) in juice, texture, and leaves of sour orange in Shiraz. The investigation was done in a completely randomized design with four treatments (Zand St. (high congestion), Pasargad St. (medium congestion), Nehzat St. (low congestion), and Sadra as the control area) in five replications in Shiraz in fall 2014. The data were analyzed using the Duncan’s post hoc test in SAS. The results showed a significant difference between treatments in terms of the amount of lead and cadmium in sour orange juice. However, there was no significant difference between treatments in terms of the amount of arsenic in the sour orange juice. Comparison of the results with standard tables showed that the sour orange juice in the target areas is contaminated in terms of lead and arsenic, but not cadmium.

Keywords:

Shiraz , sour orange , heavy metals , traffic