Using Reflectance Spectroscopy for the assessment of soil potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in agricultural soils: an application in southern Italy

Assessing soil potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination is an important objective, as high levels of some trace elements may be ecotoxicologically relevant and harmful when passing the food chain. This study focused on agricultural soil in southern Italy. The study examined the feasibility of predicting some PTEs concentration in soil samples using reflectance spectroscopy. Partial least squares regression was used to establish the relationship between reflectance spectra in the visible-near-infrared (Vis-NIR) region and PTEs. Among the PTEs analysed, only for Pb and V have been obtained successful results.