Assessment of Lead and Cadmium in Some Industrial Wastewater in Kirkuk City

Abstract

The current article concerns wastewater contamination with lead and cadmium due to their toxicity and negative impacts on living creatures and the ecosystem. The study included the assessment of the physiochemical properties and the concentrations of some ions in the wastewater of some industrial plants in Kirkuk governorate Coded (Area 1 to Area 5). The physiochemical properties include temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (T.D.S.), total suspended solids (T.S.S.), electrical conductivity (\(E.C^\circ\)), total hardness, and turbidity. The concentration of ions includes nitrate (\(NO^{-}_{3}\)), magnesium (\(Mg^{2+}\)), calcium (\(Ca^{2+}\)), sulphate (\(SO^{2-}_{4}\)), chloride (\(cl^{-}\)), sodium (\(Na^{+}\)), phosphate (\(PO^{3-}_{4}\)), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). The findings demonstrated that the phosphate (\(PO^{3-}_{4}\)) and lead (Pb and Cd) concentrations were more than the permitted limits. All the physiochemical properties have shown elevated levels compared to the normal values except for those related to total hardness and turbidity, which were unacceptable.