Metal Concentration in Soil

Sir,

I read the recent publication on metal concentration in soil with great interest.[1] Mathivanan et al. reported that “it was found that the soil collected from SIPCOT complex area were more polluted due to the presence of various industrial effluents, municipal wastes, and sewages when compared with the soil collected from Cuddalore OT.[1]” I have some points for discussion on this work. First, although it is evidenced that there are differences in pollutants it cannot be approved that this is due to industrial work. There are no previous basement data on the soil contamination in both areas. Second, the question is left on the sampling techniques. How much the sample size is and what the pattern of sampling distribution is are the two things to be replied since this can imply the fact that the collected samples could be or could not be the representatives of each setting. In conclusion, this is a straight-forward study. Overall, the work done is satisfactory; however, some raised queries especially those about the sample size should be replied.