摘要：Environmental pollution by heavy metals from automobiles has attained much attention in the recent past.The present research was conducted to study Pb and Cd level concentrations in soil along a major highwaywith high traffic density. Soil samples along highway were collected from 10 sites on the National Highway -8between Kishangarh Toll to Bagru Toll in Ajmer and analysed for two heavy metals (lead and cadmium) usingflame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Physicochemical factors, believed to affect the mobilityof metals in the soil of the study area, were examined such as pH, TOM, electrical conductivity, organiccarbon, etc. The general decrease in concentrations of these metals with distance from the highway indicatestheir relation to traffic. Higher accumulations of metals have been observed in soil samples near to thehighway (0-5 m) than in soil samples from sites a little farther away (5-10 m, 10-15 m). This is attributedmainly to aerial deposition of the metal particulates from motor vehicles. The values of heavy metals werecompared with the results found by other investigators in various countries worldwide.
