Appraisal of heavy metals and nutrients from phosphate rocks, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abubakar Siddique, Abida Hassan, Shahid Rehman Khan, Asma Inayat, Arif Nazir and Munawar Iqbal

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Abstract

This study focuses on fundamental scrutiny of phosphate rock samples in order to investigate the elemental composition (Zinc, Cadmium, Lead, Sodium and Potassium) by Flame Photometry & Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The samples have been collected from Hazara Division, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Peshawar. Relative study on heavy metal content and nutrients was performed to find out the comparative resources quality. The sample S5 exhibits highest Cadmium contents while S6 shows higher concentration of other metals. The local resources indicate higher quantity of Lead (Pb). The remedy for this excessive amount of Pb may probably be done by complete separation and disposal of waste phosphogypsum. The phosphate rocks found in the region are good enough to be utilized as raw material for fertilizer manufacturing plants.

Published
2022-05-19
Section
Articles