Sepideh Sahragard
1 
, Roqiyeh Mostafaloo
2 , Farzaneh Fanaei
3* , Senobar Imanian
1 , Monireh Dehabadi
4 , Amir Adibzadeh
5,6 , Negin Nasseh
7 1 Student Research Committee, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
2 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health and Research Center for Health Sciences, Student Research Committee, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
3 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Ferdows Faculty of Medical Sciences, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
4 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
5 Health Research Center, Lifestyle Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6 Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Health, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
7 Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran
Abstract
Heavy metals from hazardous waste, such as batteries, electronics, cleaning products, and cosmetics, can be transported to soil through landfill leachates. Due to their persistent structure, toxic metals such as chromium (Cr), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) accumulate in the soil and can cause various ecological and health risks. Hence, this study aimed to assess the extent of heavy metal pollution in the soil of landfill sites in Iran. The present study reviewed previous research on the assessment of heavy metal contamination such as Pb, arsenic (As), Cr, Cd, zinc (Zn), Co, and nickel (Ni) in soils of landfill sites. For this purpose, “Magiran”, “SID”, «IranMedex», “Scopus», “PubMed”, “ScienceDirect” and “Web of Science” databases were searched for related articles published until 2024. Persian and English keywords including heavy metals, waste disposal sites, soil, and Iran were used for search. Eventually, out of 206 articles, 21 studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in the study. The concentrations of heavy metals, including Pb, As, Cr, Cd, Zn, Co, and Ni, were found to be higher than national and international standards in some soil samples. Therefore, landfill sites, as an anthropogenic resource, have the potential to transmit pollution to the soil. Contamination levels depend on waste composition, hazardous content, leachate production and migration, landfill age and design, soil characteristics, and operating conditions. Health and ecological risks can be mitigated by reducing hazardous waste, recycling heavy metal-containing wastes, installing anti-seepage systems, and maintaining continuous monitoring.