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MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF SELECTED ROADSIDE PLANTS (DALBERGIA SISSOO AND CANNABIS SATIVA) FOR LEAD POLLUTION MONITORING

HUMA PIRZADA¹, SHEIKH SAEED AHMAD^1*, AUDIL RASHID² AND TAHIR SHAH³

Abstract: The indication provided by roadside has great significance in ecological terms particularly when environmental pollution is matter of concern. Soil and plant (Dalbergia sissoo and Cannabis sativa) samples from ten locations along Islamabad Highway were analyzed for lead (Pb) concentration (mg kg^–1) using atomic absorption spectrometry. The locations were further divided into site A and site B for spatial difference of Pb concentration. The data were subjected to multivariate analysis to examine the relationship between distance and Pb concentration in plants. A strong correlation was observed for the concentration Pb in soil and plants. In addition, the highest and lowest values of Pb concentration in both the soil and plants were found at the same location. The results show that Pb concentration in soil decreases with increasing distance from roadside as the Pb concentration in site A sample of one location declined in site B samples of the same location. This indicated that road traffic may be the key source of Pb present in soil and plants of this area. Furthermore, values of Pb concentration in soil and C. sativa correlated more than D. sissoo and soil. So Cannabis sativa can be used as a good choice species to biomonitor of Pb in this area.

¹Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall Road, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

²Department of Environmental Sciences, PMAS Arid Agriculture, University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

³Department of Agriculture, Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

^*Corresponding author E-mail: drsaeed@fjwu.edu.pk; 00 92 321 5167726