ABSTRACT: The paper provides a complex, critical assessment of heavy metal soil pollution using different indices. Pollution indices are widely considered a useful tool for the comprehensive evaluation of the degree of contamination. Moreover, they can have a great importance in the assessment of soil quality and the prediction of future ecosystem sustainability, especially in the case of farmlands. Eighteen indices previously described by several authors (Igeo, PI, EF, Cf, PIsum, PINemerow, PLI, PIave, PIVector, PIN, MEC, CSI, MERMQ, Cdeg, RI, mCd and ExF) as well as the newly published Biogeochemical Index (BGI) were compared. The content, as determined by other authors, of the most widely investigated heavy metals (Cd, P
