Table 1.

Descriptive statistics of physicochemical properties and heavy metal (HM) concentration (mg/kg) in agricultural soils near MPPs in District Malakand.

	Statistics								Background concentration
Variables	Mean	Min	Max	SE	SD	CV (%)	Skewness	Kurtosis	Average Shale	FAO
pH	8.3	7.3	9.0	0.18	0.48	5.80	− 1.20	3.10	−	6–8.5
EC (µs/cm)	374.60	213.3	556.6	31.33	84.25	29.20	0.16	0.71	−	400
TDS (mg/L)	635.80	223.0	1072.67	100.50	266.0	41.80	0.15	0.88	−	450
Al	10,914.30	5100	23,250	1067.8	4893.3	44.8	1.20	1.10	80,000	−
As	5.30	2.0	10.0	0.50	2.30	42.0	0.70	− 0.48	13	20
Ca	19,881.50	12,650	29,250	1163.5	5331.7	26.8	0.4	− 1.0	22,100	−
Cd	2.0	0.5	4.50	0.30	1.40	74.50	0.74	− 0.86	0.3	3
Co	6.0	2.0	11.0	0.50	2.40	41.30	0.46	− 0.21	19	50
Cr	27.0	13.0	40.0	1.60	7.50	27.90	− 0.51	− 0.35	90	100
Cu	20.10	6.50	40.50	2.30	10.50	52.30	0.60	− 0.66	45	100
Fe	4699.71	1075	13,200	555.2	2544.0	54.10	2.0	5.50	47,200	50,000
K	2105.70	734.5	3990.5	207.6	951.6	45.20	1.0	− 0.90	26,600	−
Mg	5420.71	2438.5	8050	365.8	1676.1	30.90	0.5	− 0.80	15,000	−
Mn	149.30	68.50	315.5	16.0	73.40	49.20	0.96	− 0.17	850	2000
Ni	18.40	12.50	27.0	0.90	4.10	22.40	0.40	− 0.56	68	50
P	292.0	65.5	805.5	45.2	207.3	71.10	1.1	0.60	700	−
Si	12.50	1.50	25.50	1.50	7.0	55.90	0.3	− 0.50	7300	−
Sr	35.14	13.50	60.50	2.90	13.40	38.0	0.47	− 0.57	300	−
Ti	600.50	125.50	1471.0	82.70	378.9	63.10	1.16	0.32	4600	−
V	39.21	16.50	59.0	2.70	12.50	32.0	− 0.27	− 0.45	130	−
Zn	5.80	0.50	19.0	1.30	6.10	106.70	1.21	0.08	95	300
Zr	3.0	1.0	4.50	0.20	1.10	37.50	− 0.01	− 1.01	160	−

SE; standard error, SD: standard deviation; CV: coefficient of variance.