Estimation of heavy metals contents and their genotoxic potential in agricultural soil samples of Nangli village, Amritsar (India)

Vanita Chattal^a, Avinash Nagpal^a, Yogesh B. Pakade^b & Jatinder Kaur Katnoria*^a
a*Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar-143005, Punjab, India
^bHill Area Tea Science Division, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur-176061, Himachal Pradesh, India

Received , 25th October 2013 :Revived: 15th December, 2013

Abstract :The Current research was aimed to investigate physico-chemical parameters, heavy metal content and genotoxic potential of two soil samples from an agricultural field of Nangli village, Amritsar (India). Samples were collected during cultivation of two different crops i.e. rice (September, 2010) and wheat (March, 2011). The soil samples were characterized for different physico-chemical parameters viz. pH, temperature, electrical conductance, alkalinity, bulk density, water holding capacity, nitrate, phosphate, potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium. Soil samples were found to be contaminated with different heavy metals ( Fe, Mn. Cd, Ni, Cu and Pb) and also showed high genotoxic potential in Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay.