Abstract:
Evaluation of concentration of heavy metals found in shooting range soil
is important in assessing the pollution risk posed to biota. Soil samples from five
shooting ranges found in Botswana were used in this study. All the five shooting
ranges accumulated high concentration of Cu ranging from 67.4 ± 0.05 mg/kg to
1569 ± 13 mg/kg followed by Mn (25.9 ± 0.1–953.8 ± 2.8 mg/kg). Pollution risk
indices were used to quantify the environmental pollution risk posed by the differ-
ent heavy metals studied. It was established that even though all the five shooting
ranges recorded low concentrations of Cd, this metal still posed the highest pollu-
tion risk than any other metal with S/P shooting range recording the highest
potential ecological risk index (peri) of 8141 (CCd ~ 3.6 ± 0.03 mg/kg) and TAB at PERI
of 3507 (CCd ~ 4.9 ± 0.02 mg/kg). Similarly, contamination factor (CF) value of 271 for
Cd was measured at S/P shooting range indicating high contamination from Cd.
Pollution risk indices were able to establish that even though concentration of Cd
accumulated in the soil was low this heavy metal still posed highest pollution risk to
biota. Continuous assessment of the pollution status of these shooting ranges
should be carried out in order to establish appropriate best shooting range man-
agement practices and remedial strategies.