Contamination of Plants, Soil, and Building Stones at a Roman Heritage Archaeological Site in an Urban Area

Abstract

Some cultural heritage sites in Jordan are in urban areas being exposed to anthropogenic pollution. A Roman archaeological site (Nymphaeum) situated in Amman was considered. The contamination in soil, plants, and building stones did not show spatial distribution within the site. The contamination was highest in soil, with least value 104 ppb for Cd and highest values ~3.5×106 and 107 ppb for sulfur and Al respectively, whereas in plants the least was for Cr (~400 ppb) and in building stones it was least for Cu (~860 ppb). The highest contamination in plants and building stones was found for Al (~5×104 and ~6.2×105 ppb respectively). The sulfur content in plants (~7.6×105 ppb) was higher than that in building stones (~2.3×105 ppb). The heavy metals and sulfur contamination in the building stones were lower than reported elsewhere outside Jordan.