Regional change of heavy metal pollution in Ankara city center

As in the whole world, environmental problems have increased with the increase in settlement areas in Turkey, and this situation has brought about many problems, especially environmental pollution. Among the components of environmental pollution, heavy metals are the most dangerous and important in terms of human and environmental health. In particular, Pb, Cr, Cd, Zn, Ni, Ba and V are among the most toxic and deadly heavy metals and the concentrations of these heavy metals in the environment are constantly increasing. The soil is one of the most affected elements by the increase in pollution. Soils are both a feeding and living environment for plants and one of the most important components of the environment. In addition, especially the top soil is one of the most important indicators of the level of air pollution. In this study, it is aimed to determine and map the pollution of Ba, Cd, Cr, Ba, Cu, Mn, Ni, Co, Zn, S, V, P, Na, K, Ca, Fe, Mg and Al pollution in the city center of Ankara, which is the capital and second largest city of Turkey, with the help of topsoils. Within the scope of the study, Ankara city center was divided into sub-regions with different characteristics and heavy metal analyzes were made by taking topsoil samples from 50 points representing these regions. Then, the changes of heavy metal concentrations on a regional basis were statistically evaluated, the data were transferred to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) using ArcGIS 10.7 software, then modeled by kriging method from interpolation methods and pollution maps were created. As a result of the study, it was determined separately which areas were dirtier in terms of which heavy metals.