Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the soils of an agricultural field near the Bargny cement plant (Senegal) | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the soils of an agricultural field near the Bargny cement plant (Senegal) Mamadou Lamine Sané, Alassane Traoré, Fatou Ka Gueye, Modou Mbaye, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8703798/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In this study, the concentrations of heavy metals Fe, As, Mn, Cr, Ni, Zn, Ti, and Cu were measured in soil samples from an agricultural site located near a cement plant that has been operating in the area for several decades. The results of the analyses showed the following decreasing ranking of average concentrations : Fe > Ti > Cr > Ni > As > Mn > Zn > Cu. The maximum concentrations of As (54.79 mg/kg) and Cr (148.86 mg/kg) exceeded the limits set by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The analysis of correlations between the concentrations of the different heavy metals studied indicated anthropogenic origins for the metallic elements As, Zn, and Cr. The agricultural field showed moderate enrichment by Ni, significant enrichment by Cr, and very high enrichment by As, with enrichment factors of 4.725, 8.315, and 20.599, respectively. Approximately 33.33% of the study area had an As concentration exceeding the permitted limit. The individual pollution index (PI) indicated moderate As pollution of the agricultural field. The overall Nemerow pollution index (P N ) placed the study site within the precautionary range for the trace metal Cr. Regarding As, the site was in the area of severe pollution, with a P N of 3.097. However, the potential ecological risks were low. heavy metals risk assessment soils agricultural field cement industry Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8703798","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":580741783,"identity":"5fcdc4e4-a769-4f98-96fd-18c2026c345c","order_by":0,"name":"Mamadou Lamine Sané","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLACHgYGOQirAkQkgEUIajGGsM6QoCWxAcRgbCNCi2776cQPbyoOMzbwH3724OO8w/L87QmMD962Mdib49BidiZ3s+ScM4eZGSTSzA1nbjtsOOPMA2bDuW0MiTsbcGg5kLtBmrftMBuDBIOZNO+2wwkMNxLYgCIMCQYHcGg5/3bzb6AWHgb+49+k/845nCB/I4EdKMJgj1PLjdxtIFskGBhyzKQZGw4nGABtYQZqYdyAU8vbbZZzzqQbsEnklEn2HEs33HjmYbPknHMSiTi1nM/dfONNhXV9P//xbRI/aqzl5Y4nH/zwpswGp8PggA3BZGwAEhIE1I+CUTAKRsEowAcA5A1djRObLzQAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Nuclear Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mamadou","middleName":"Lamine","lastName":"Sané","suffix":""},{"id":580741784,"identity":"04661ec9-a404-42da-8c41-d489df09188a","order_by":1,"name":"Alassane Traoré","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Nuclear Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Alassane","middleName":"","lastName":"Traoré","suffix":""},{"id":580741785,"identity":"1d07fa9f-bb8d-4bc8-b49e-9ade7ff336ca","order_by":2,"name":"Fatou Ka Gueye","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Nuclear Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fatou","middleName":"Ka","lastName":"Gueye","suffix":""},{"id":580741786,"identity":"5e6ed0c2-f369-431d-981e-1dfba3096966","order_by":3,"name":"Modou Mbaye","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Modou","middleName":"","lastName":"Mbaye","suffix":""},{"id":580741787,"identity":"1681cccc-4638-487e-84c0-f2aec2df746b","order_by":4,"name":"Malick Sow","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Nuclear Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Malick","middleName":"","lastName":"Sow","suffix":""},{"id":580741788,"identity":"7fc43e48-7bba-4089-b1e0-ee2029f1f986","order_by":5,"name":"Oumar Absa Niasse","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Institute of Applied Nuclear Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Oumar","middleName":"Absa","lastName":"Niasse","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-26 21:08:10","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8703798/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8703798/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102748144,"identity":"412714e9-c9f1-4c15-800f-8bd885af2439","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-16 09:06:06","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":815363,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ArticleDrSANE.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8703798/v1_covered_3ccfa427-78bd-4b32-b5ae-1c06129d73dd.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Assessment of heavy metal contamination in the soils of an agricultural field near the Bargny cement plant (Senegal)","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
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