doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2025.16.1.1510
Assessment of the Intensity of Soil Pollution of Open-Air landfills by Heavy Metals (Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn) in the City of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Engambé Christ Bardoul1,2,*
,
Kouhounina Banzouzi Merline Lady1,2 ,
Bibila Mafoumba Jean Claude1,2 ,
Kounampo-OKouo Avinth Carmel1,3 ,
Moussoki Nsona Promesse3 ,
Tchoumou Martin2,3,4
- 1Faculté des Sciences Appliquées, Université Denis Sassou N’guesso, Kintélé, Republic of Congo
- 2Laboratoire de Chimie Minérale et Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Marien N’gouabi, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- 3Unité de Chimie du Végétal et de la Vie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Marien N’gouabi, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- 4Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Marien N’gouabi, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
- Manuscript receivedApril 30, 2024
- revisedJune 12, 2024
- acceptedSeptember 29, 2024
- publishedFebruary 26, 2025
Abstract
In the Republic of Congo, solid waste fromhouseholds and small industries of all kinds is dumped withoutprior treatment in public landfills, often in the open. The soil inthese landfills is not protected and is therefore at risk ofcontamination by heavy metals. As a result, the surface waterand groundwater in the surrounding area are also exposed tothe same risks through various phenomena, since the storage ofsolid waste is the cause of large quantities of heavy metals beingburied in the soil. Against this background, this study wascarried out to assess the environmental impact of wastedeposited in open dumps in the city of Brazzaville. Soil sampleswere taken from open dumps at four sites (Kinsoundi, Diata,Moukondo and Tsiémé). Physicochemical analyses such as pH,water content (TE), Organic Matter content (MO) and heavymetal content were carried out on soil samples from landfills atthese four sites. Soil organic matter content was determinedusing the Walkley and Black method, while heavy metal contentwas measured using ICP-OES. The results showed that theinvestigated landfill soils are slightly alkaline (6.93–7.29) withlow water content (12.53–18%) and rich in organic matter(1.38–5.45%). The soils also contain high levels of heavy metals:Cr (1724.67–6664.64 mg/kg), Hg (0.78–1.53 mg/kg), Pb (120–173.33 mg/kg) and Zn (920–5500 mg/kg). The values of the geoaccumulationindex (1.72–5.63) and the pollution index (5.10–16.40) show a significant contamination of these soils by theabove-mentioned heavy metals. Statistical processing using thecorrelation matrix was used to establish a series of relationshipsbetween the different parameters studied.
Keywords
- heavy metals
- contamination
- pollution
- landfills
- environment
- geo-accumulation index
How to Cite
Engambé Christ Bardoul, Kouhounina Banzouzi Merline Lady, Bibila Mafoumba Jean Claude, Kounampo-OKouo Avinth Carmel, Moussoki Nsona Promesse, and Tchoumou Martin, "Assessment of the Intensity of Soil Pollution of Open-Air landfills by Heavy Metals (Cr, Hg, Pb and Zn) in the City of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 58-64, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijesd.2025.16.1.1510
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).