Iranian Journal of

Background and Objectives: one of the most important environmental concerns is heavy metals emissions from human activities to natural ecosystems, particularly transfer to soil. The aims of this study were measured the concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cr in landfill soil and hospital waste ash of Shahrekord municipal solid waste landfill. Materials and Methods: Soil samples were collected from three sites: out of the landfill, municipal landfill and hospital landfill. In each site 2, 1, and 1 stations ware selected respectively and each sample was replicated in three times. Results: We found that there was a significant difference between concentrations of Cu, Zn and Cr in the landfills soil (95% confidence, P <0.05). Furthermore, the highest levels of Zn and Cu were detected in the hospital landfill and also for Cr in the municipal landfills. However, the concentration levels of heavy metals in all of the sites were in order as follows: Zn>Cu>Cr. Conclusion: High concentrations of metals determined in the present study represents the high application of these metals in the structure of municipal and hospital solid wastes and also their inaccurate separation. Thus, awareness about physical and chemical characteristics of municipal and hospital wastes and also the landfill soil is necessary for evaluating their effects on the soil quality and surrounding environments.