Speakers - 2026

Title: Evaluating arsenic and different trace element levels in agricultural soils across eastern, western, and southern libya initiatives, a study

Abstract

The concentrations of  Arsenic (As) and various trace elements present in agricultural soils from Libya's Eastern, Western, and Southern areas are analyzed. Average As concentrations in the clay agricultural soils of the Eastern Region were nearly 4.8 and 4.1 times greater than those in the southern (SSR) and western (WSR) regions, respectively. It is possible that the parent rock of that area has high levels, which are subsequently shown in the surface soil. The trace elements found in ESR soil (cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), As, cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and manganese (Mn)) were approximately five times greater than in WSR and SSR. In SSR, the median shoot/soil transfer factor (TF) was almost double that observed in ESR and WSR. In the current study, the transfer of As from shoot to grain was significantly higher by an order of magnitude, even though the rates of soil to grain transfer were lower. The observation that the grain/shoot As ratio for SSR was greater than for grain from other regions of Libya may be attributed to inherent variations influencing the cultivars (i.e. intensive irrigation; contrasting climatic conditions in SSR relative to ESR and WSR). SSR showed the highest average bioavailable As levels, with the median shoot/soil TF being almost double that of ESR and WSR. The average bioavailable As levels observed in the three regions analyzed showed a decline from SSR to ESR to WSR