Abstract

In the present study Particle Induced X-rayEmission (PIXE) method has been used to identify the elementspresent in some environmental samples (soil and vegetable) inorder to show the possible influence of soil in the metalabsorption by the vegetables grown in saline region ofBangladesh. PIXE can detect a high number of elements with ahigh sensitivity (ppm range) in a simple and fast way. Thesamples were prepared for irradiation following conventionalmethodology and irradiated with 2.5 MeV collimated protonsfrom the 3 MV tandem accelerator of Bangladesh AtomicEnergy Commission. The X-rays emitted during irradiationfrom the samples were measured by HPGe detector and theacquired X-ray spectrum was analyzed by using the softwareGUPIXWIN. The obtained results were compared with twostandard values IAEA-359 (cabbage) and IAEA Soil-7.Concentrations of some heavy metals (Cr, Co and Ni) werefound above the potentially risky levels in soils; however, theyaccumulated in plants to a lesser amount, probably because ofthe physical and chemical properties of soils that prevent theirconduction to vegetables. As, Cd and Pb were not found in anyone of the soil and vegetable samples in the present study.