Assessment of Environmental Impacts of Heavy Metal Pollution and Risk Assessment in Soil of Oil Depots and Distribution Centers in Anbar Governorate, Iraq

The impacts of heavy metal pollution on the planet are among the major environmental problems, with oil facilities having been singled out as the key origin of the heavy metal emissions.Hence, the current study was conducted to investigate the levels of heavy metals in the soil of oil installations and centers for distribution of Anbar Province, Iraq.The samples of soil were done and performed by AAS (Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy).Additionally, some environmental pollution indicators were measured to find their origins over space and time.The results reveal that the average heavy metal concentrations exceeded the limit value set by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, respectively.Pollution indicators, such as Contamination Factor (CF), Pollution Load Index (PLI), and Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), were used to examine the level of contamination, which revealed that the area is either uncontaminated or moderately contaminated.Human activities, particularly the increase in air pollution driven by rapid population growth, have been identified as the primary contributors to soil contamination.This research sheds light on the nature and the sources of heavy metal pollution in oil facility sites, exploring the possible solutions to this environmental problem.