Forty soil samples at 0-15 cm depth were collected from farmers' fields in two agroecological regions (AEZs) of Bangladesh, namely the Old Brahmaputra Floodplain (AEZ9) and High Ganges River Floodplain (AEZ 11). The two AEZs display contrasting soil characteristics, the AEZ9 soils being non-calcareous (pH around 6.5, free CaC03 absent) and the AEZII soils being calcareous (pH around 7.6, free CaC03 present). The crops grown in the AEZ9 are mainly rice followed by wheat, mustard, and pulses, while in the AEZII, apart from rice-based cropping patterns, sugarcane is cultivated alone. In this cultivation, normal agricultural practices such as irrigation, fertilizer application, manuring, pesticide spray, etc. are adopted. The soils were collected based on the soil texture and land type. The soils were air-dried, ground, and passed through a 2-mm sieve. For trace element analysis, the soils were further ground to a fine powder « 0.1 mm) using a tungsten-carbide vibration mill. Soil samples in duplicate were analyzed for trace elements along with the pH, organic matter, and clay contents. The soil pH (H20) was determined by using a pH meter with a glass electrode, the clay content using a hydrometer and the organic matter content by the wet oxidation method. Soil samples weighing 0.1 g were taken into a Teflon tube. Into the tube, 1 mL HN03, 0.5 mL HF, and 0.1 mL HCI04 were added. The Teflon tubes were placed on an aluminium block heater, and then the temperature of the block was raised slowly to about 120T. Heating was continued until HF was completely evaporated. Then 0.1 mL of HCI04 was added and the tubes were heated until the acid material was evaporated leaving the residue dry. The dry residue in the tube was dissolved with 15 mL of base solution containing indium (50 ppb) and conc. HN03 (15 mL L -1). It took altogether 16 h to obtain a complete digestion. The contents of the elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS, Model SPQ8000, Seiko Instruments Co., Chiba, Japan). Multi-element standard solutions, XTC-22 and XTC-I07 (SPEX Industries Inc., Edison, USA) were used for preparing different standards of the elements, Cu, Zn, Mn, As, Mo, Cd, Sb, and Pb with atomic mass number 63, 66, 55, 75, 98, 114, 121, and 208, respectively. Indium was used as an internal standard for the correction of ICP-MS instrumental drift and matrix effects.