scholarly journals Ecological Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil of an Open Dump along Old Ikare Road Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

Author(s):  
J. O. Olayinka-Olagunju ◽  
A. M. Olatunji-Ojo ◽  
A. Adejuyigbe ◽  
H. A. Ikuesan ◽  
S. E. Abubakar

Aims: To investigate the heavy metal concentrations in soil samples collected from an open dumpsite in a rural community (Aba Idi-Mangoro) in Owo, Ondo State and to compare the observed values with the regulatory limits. This study also aimed to determine the pollution levels using tools like contamination factor, pollution load index and geoaccumulation index. Study Design: Field study design was use in this study. Place and Duration of Study: Soil samples were collected from Aba Idi-Mangoro in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria between July 2015 and February 2016 to represent the wet and dry seasons. Methodology: A total of 96 soil samples were collected (6 samples on each visit and the site was visited twice a month). The samples were taken to the Prof. Julius Okojie Central Research Laboratory at the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. In the laboratory, samples were air dried to remove the moisture. 2 g of the sampes were digested into HNO3, HCl, HF and HClO4, and AA Spectrophotometer was used to analyse the concentrations of the heavy metals. Results: Out of the 8 heavy metals assessed, 6 were above the regulatory limits. The order of heavy metal concentrations for the wet season is: Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu>Pb>Ni>Cr>Co>Cd and the dry season is as follows: Fe>Zn>Mn>Pb>Cu>Ni>Co>Cr>Cd. When the mean concentrations of the samples for the wet season were compared to the dry season, Mn (0.009), Cd (0.035), Cr (0.044) and Co (0.014) differ significantly (p<0.05). No significant difference was found in Fe, Co, Ni and Zn. It was observed from the overall results that the concentrations of heavy metals were higher during the dry season than in the wet season. The contamination factor (CF), pollution load index and geo-accumulation index values of Fe was extremely high in the two seasons while it varies at different collection times for the other metals. Conclusion: Due to the high presence of some of the heavy metals found in the soil, the study suggests that water and sediment samples from nearby river(s) within the community should also be examined.

Author(s):  
K. O. Ondoo ◽  
J. K. Kiptoo ◽  
A. O. Onditi ◽  
S. M. Shivaji ◽  
J. K. Ogilo

Agricultural activities, discharge of raw sewage into farms and the rise in urbanization have greatly contributed to soil pollution. During the rainy season, surface runoff from farms find their way into water bodies and deposits these contaminants into Rivers and Lakes which poses a threat to both aquatic and terrestrial organisms that depend on that water source. The objective of this research was to determine the level of anions and heavy metals from sediments in River Sio, Busia County, Kenya. Five sediment samples were taken from five sampling points and the levels of anions and heavy metals in them determined. Anions were determined using Shimadzu 1800 UV/visible spectrophotometer while heavy metals were determined using Shimadzu 6200 flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Copper, lead and nickel were above the allowed WHO limits while cadmium was below detection limit. The levels of nitrates, phosphates and chlorides were higher during the wet season due to surface runoff that carried these nutrients from the farms and deposited them on the bottom of the River. The levels of heavy metals were high during the dry season due to evaporation of water from the River, leading to an increase in the analyte concentration during the dry season. High levels of copper and nickel in the sediments points to the use of herbicides and pesticides in farming and washing of vehicles and motorcycles on the banks of the River. According to Igeo nickel showed moderate pollution during the dry season. The contamination factor for lead was very high during the dry season, while pollution load index confirmed pollution due to anthropogenic activities in sampling sites 1 – 4 during the dry season and no pollution due to anthropogenic activities during the wet season.  The study recommends reduced use of inorganic fertilizers in order to save the River from the danger of eutrophication. Excessive use of agrochemicals such as herbicides and pesticides should be discouraged. In addition, pesticide leaching and the level of microbes in soil and sediments should be considered for further research


Author(s):  
Aliyu Ibrahim Yaradua ◽  
Adamu Jibrin Alhassan ◽  
Abdullahi Nasir ◽  
Kabir Ibrahim Matazu ◽  
Aminu Usman ◽  
...  

This work contributes to the monitoring of Agricultural soil pollution in Katsina State, North western Nigeria by assessing the degree of heavy metal pollution in Agricultural soil samples. The study was conducted in the year 2017 within some catchment areas located within the 3 senatorial zones that constitute to make up the state (Katsina senatorial zone: Birchi, Dutsinma and Katsina; Daura senatorial zone: Daura, Ingawa and Zango; Funtua senatorial zone: Dabai, Funtua, Kafur, Malunfashi and Matazu).  Analysis for the concentration of these heavy metals; Cr, Cd, Fe, Ni, Mn, Pb and Zn was conducted by the use of AAS (by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry) method. . Several indices were used to assess the metal contamination levels in the Agricultural soil samples, namely; Geo-accumulation Index (Igeo), Enrichment Factor (EF), Contamination Factor (CF), Degree of Contamination (Cd) and Pollution Load Index (PLI). The result of this study has shown that generally among the heavy metals evaluated, the highest concentration was observed for Fe (range: 20.195-38.347 ppm), followed by Zn (range: 0.528-1.134 ppm), Pb (range: 0.256-0.627 ppm), Mn (range: 0.261-0.572 ppm) and Cr (range: 0.093-0.344 ppm). While Cd has the lowest concentration (range: 0.022-0.043 ppm). For all the site sampled the heavy metal Ni was below detection level (BDL). From the results of heavy metals I-geo values, according to Muller’s classification,  soil samples from Birchi, Daura, Dutsinma, Kafur and Zango were unpolluted (class 0) while soil samples from Dabai, Funtua, Ingawa, Katsina, Malunfashi and Matazu are moderately polluted (class 1). The result for the enrichment factor has shown that with the exception of the heavy metal Fe, which shows significant enrichment for all the sites sampled all the other heavy metals show deficiency to minimal enrichment. Also based on the contamination factors for all soil samples the heavy metal Fe has a CF values range of 1.2861-2.3240, indicating that the Agricultural soil samples are moderately contaminated with Fe. In contrast, the rest of the heavy metals exhibit low contamination in general. The value of PLI ranges from 0.2408 to 0.4935, indicating unpolluted to moderate pollution, with the sampling site for Katsina displaying the highest PLI value while the sampling site of Ingawa has the lowest PLI. The Eri values for all samples are all < 40, presenting low ecological risk.  The results suggest that the Agricultural soils samples from Katsina state has low contamination by the heavy metals evaluated.Key words: Agricultural soils, Heavy metals, Katsina state, Pollution load index, Contamination factor.


Author(s):  
Paul Bassey Ekpo ◽  
Anthony John Umoyen ◽  
Nseobong Godwin Akpan ◽  
Inyang Paul Ekpo ◽  
Gabriel Abu ◽  
...  

Background and Objectives: Human activities can increase the amount of pollutants in the environment leading to water pollution. The contamination of surface water and sediments by heavy metals can result in adverse health conditions of humans, due to the bioaccumulation of metals. This study seeks to assess the pollution load of some heavy metals and physiochemical properties in Great Kwa River. Methods: Water samples were collected once a month from three stations within four selected months in wet and dry seasons. Samples were preserved by adding 10 ml of 6 N Nitric acid and stored at 5oC. Laboratory investigations were conducted and data analyzed statistically. Findings: The mean pH, dissolved O2, biological O2 demand, conductivity, NO3, NH4 and temperature were 7.44±1.24, 5.58±0.92, 0.957±0.002, 32.84±2.941, 0.1030±0.1701, 0.113±0.018 and 28.2±1.48, respectively during wet season. Mean concentration of Cu, Fe, Cr, Mn, Zn, Ni are 0.225±0.003, 0.489±0.009, 0.068±0.016, 0.102±0.006, 0.794±0.003, 0.031±0.001, respectively during the wet season. Mean concentration of metals in the river during the wet season were ranked in descending order as Zn > Fe > Cu > Mn > Cr > Ni. Iron (0.489±0.009 mg/l and 0.438±0.003 mg/l), chromium (0.068±0.016 mg/l and 0.055±0.008 mg/l), nickel (0.031±0.001 mg/l and 0.025±0.002 mg/l) were higher than Nigerian standard for drinking water in both seasons. The contamination factor of heavy metals in station 3 were 2.14, 1.56, 1.09, 0.89 for Fe, Cr, Ni, Zn, respectively, indicating moderate contamination. The pollution load index in stations 1, 2, 3 were 0.262, 0.537, 0.981, respectively. Conclusion: The present study provided base-line information on the pollution levels and physiochemical properties of the river. The river was not highly polluted by heavy metals except iron, chromium and nickel that were found above the recommended standards. However, drinking of water from the river over one’s lifetime is not advisable due to detrimental health hazards.


Author(s):  
A. N. Ogbaran ◽  
H. Uguru

The use of lowlands for refuse collection point (dumpsite) is a very common practice in Nigeria. However, people cultivated the areas within the vicinity of the dumpsites, without knowledge of the risk of these heavy metals. Therefore, this study was done to evaluate the risk of heavy metals pollution of soils within the vicinity of an active dumpsite. Four (4) soil samples (from 4 locations) at a depth of 0–20 cm were collected from the vicinity of the dumpsite. The heavy metals (e.g. iron lead, nickel and cadmium) concentration of the collected soil samples were analyzed according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International methods. Pollution indices (contamination factor, enrichment factor, pollution load index and geoaccumulation index) were used to ascertain the level of heavy metals contamination of the dumpsite area. Results obtained from the soil tests revealed that, the dumpsite area had high heavy metals concentrations. The heavy metals concentrations were of this ranged: iron 3420 mg kg-1 to 4323 mg kg-1, lead 28.92 mg kg-1 to 58.84 mg kg-1, nickel 2.89 mg kg-1 to 6.91 mg kg-1, and cadmium from 1.04 mg kg-1 to 2.05 mg kg-1. The heavy metals concentrations ranked as Fe > Pb > Ni > Cd. Pollution indices results showed that cadmium had the highest contamination factor, enrichment factor, pollution load index and geoaccumulation index values, which portrayed that the dumpsite soil was heavily contaminated with cadmium. Results of the correlation showed a strong correlation (r = 0.87) between iron and nickel, indicating that the two heavy metals got their pollution from the source(s). Results obtained from this study will further help the government and environmental regulators to plan and carried out suitable remediation strategies, to clean the environment.


Tehnika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 297-304
Author(s):  
Todor Serafimovski ◽  
Goran Tasev ◽  
Trajce Stafilov

The intense mineral extraction in mining areas during the last several decades has produced a large amount of waste material and tailings, which release toxic elements to the environment. The aim of the study was to determine in two vertical profiles/sections (1 and 2) the heavy metal contents of samples derived from six samples, three from each section located in the porphyry copper mine Buchim area, Republic North Macedonia. The results have been compared to new Dutchlist (DL) and Kabata-Pendias (KP) standards and the following was concluded: As values ranged 14.985÷60.131 mg kg-1 with 4 samples above the target value of the DL (29 mg kg-1 As) and 6 above standard values given in KP value (5 mg kg-1 As), in that context Co values ranged 11 ÷57 mg kg-1 with 6 values above the target value of the DL (9 mg kg-1 Co) and 5 above standard values given in KP value (12 mg kg-1 Co), Cr with range 29.32÷75.76 mg kg-1 with 6 over KP value (10 mg kg-1 Cr) and none above the target value of the DL (100 mg kg-1 Cr), Cu with range 2694÷6749 mg kg-1 with 6 samples above the target value of the DL (36 mg kg-1 Cu) and 6 above standard values given in KP value (20 mg kg-1 Cu), Ni with range 59.57÷105.98 mg kg-1 with 6 samples above the target value of the DL (35 mg kg-1 Ni) and 6 above standard values given in KP value (20 mg kg-1 Ni), Pb with range 27.06 ÷96.08 mg kg-1 with 1 sample above the target value of the DL (85 mg kg-1Pb) and 6 above standard values given in KP value (25 mg kg-1Pb), Zn with range 147÷273 mg kg-1 with 6 over target value of the DL (140 mg kg-1 Zn) and 6 above standard KP value (64 mg kg-1 Zn), V with range 34.44÷92.57 mg kg-1 with 5 over target value of the DL (42 mg kg-1 V) and one above KP value (90 mg kg-1 V).In order to compare the level of contamination, the contamination factor (𝐶𝑓 𝑖 ), degree of contamination (Cd), and pollution load index (PLI) were computed. Serious numbers were found for Cu, as, Zn, Co and Ni, which exceeded standard values at almost all samples from both vertical sections. Compared from section 1 and section 2, pollution load index increased by 13.43%, which in almost all samples was classified as heavily polluted to extremely polluted. The fact that mining activities at the Buchim Mine last for almost 40 years, the presence of heavy metals in soils at a serious level is understandable. The high level of contamination is a result of heavy metal persistence and non-biodegradability.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram Proshad ◽  
Md. Saiful Islam ◽  
Tapos Kormoker

This study was conducted to assess the ecological risk of heavy metals in soils collected from the industrial vicinity of Tangail district in Bangladesh. In this study, the levels of six heavy metals namely chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in 15 sampling sites around the industrial vicinity of Tangail district in Bangladesh were assessed. The mean concentration of Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd and Pb in studied soils were 11.56, 23.92, 37.27, 6.11, 2.01, and 17.46 mg/kg, respectively. Certain indices, including the enrichment factor (EF), contamination factor (Cif), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), pollution load index (PLI), toxic unit analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to assess the ecological risk. The enrichment factor of all the studied metals for all sampling sites were in the descending order of Cd > Cu > As > Pb >Ni > Cr. The contamination factor values revealed that the studied soils were highly impacted by Cd. The pollution load index (PLI) values of Cd were higher than 1, indicating the progressive deterioration of soil due to Cd contamination. In the context of potential ecological risk (PER), soils from all sampling sites showed moderate to very high potential ecological risk.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Eneojo Godwin Ameh ◽  
Mofoloronsho Samuel Kolawole ◽  
Sunday Ojochogwu Idakwo ◽  
Caroline Ojone Ameh ◽  
Ebo GabrielImeokparia

Soil samples were collected randomly but uniformly distributed around Itakpe iron-ore mines in both dry and wet seasons. Surface soils were collected from 0cm to 10cm using stainless steel augers and located using Global Positioning System (GPS). Soil samples were air-dried, sieved through 500um mesh and 1.0g digested, evaporated and analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS).Five (5) geo-environmental indices were used to quantitatively evaluate the degree of soil contamination due to iron ore mining. The anthropogenic factor (AF) for both seasons revealed that all heavy metals have greater than 50% AF except for Cd in the dry season. The geo accumulation index (Igeo) for both seasons showed background concentration to unpolluted for Cu and Zn while Fe, Ni, Cdand Pb recorded moderately to very highly polluted. The pollution index (Eri), showed tiny hazard level for all the heavy metals in dry season and in wet season, Cd and Ni recorded strong hazard level while tiny hazard level were observed for Cu and Pb. The ecological pollution index for the area is strong (RI=323.25). Dry and wet season enrichment factor (EF) revealed background concentration for all the heavy metals except Fe with EF> 40 (extremely high enrichment). While contamination factor (CF) was very high for Fe in both seasons, Cu and Ni recorded considerable to very high contamination in dry season. The wet season also revealed considerable contamination for Ni and Cd; moderate to considerable contamination for Cu, Zn and Pb. The sites in both seasons have experienced various degrees of deterioration but more significant in wet season. Based on these indices, the soils around Itakpe iron-ore area has suffered significant degrees of contaminations with respect to Fe, Ni, Cd and Pb.


Toxics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Lenka Demková ◽  
Július Árvay ◽  
Lenka Bobuľská ◽  
Martin Hauptvogl ◽  
Miloslav Michalko ◽  
...  

Thirty soil samples were taken, and the same number of moss (Dicranum scoparium) and lichen (Pseudevernia furfuracea) bags were exposed to detect environmental pollution in the former mining area Nižná Slaná. Soil and ambient air are influenced by hazardous substances, which leak from old mining bodies due to insufficient or completely missing reclamation. The total content of the risk elements (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Sb, Se, Pb, Zn) was determined in soil, moss, and lichen samples and in the bodies of Leccinum pseudoscabrum. Biological (soil enzymes—urease, acid phosphatase, alkaline phosphatase, fluorescein diacetate (FDA), ß-glucosidase) and chemical properties (pH) were determined in soil samples. Contamination factor (Cf), degree of contamination (Cd), pollution load index (PLI), and enrichment factor (EF) were used for soil and relative accumulation factor (RAF) for air quality evaluation. Contamination factor values show serious pollution by Cd, Fe, Hg, and Mn. Pollution load index confirmed extremely high pollution almost at all evaluated areas. Soil enzymes reacted to soil pollution mostly by decreasing their activity. Mosses and lichens show differences in the accumulation abilities of individual elements. Regular consumption of L. pseudoscabrum would provide the dose of Cd and Hg below the limit of provisional weekly intake. Based on the bioaccumulation index (BAF) values, L. pseudoscabrum can be characterized as an Hg accumulator.


Author(s):  
U. U. Ubong ◽  
I. O. Ekwere ◽  
E. E. Ikpe

This study evaluates the physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals in water, sediments and Tympanotonus fuscatus obtained from three sample sites along Iko River in Eastern Obolo LGA, AkwaIbom State. The heavy metal analysis results on Pb, Cd and Ni in sediments and Tympanotonus fuscatus were used to estimate the human health and ecological risk assessment of the study area. The human health risk assessment tools utilized in this study were estimated dietary intake (EDI), total hazard quotient (THQ) and hazard index (HI) while sediment pollution parameters evaluated were contamination factor (CF), contamination degree (CD), pollution load index (PLI) and geoaccumulation index (Igeo). Results obtained showed that EDI of Cd in periwinkle in the study sites ranged from 0.2 – 6.4 µg/kg-bw/day and exceeded the provisional tolerable dietary intake (PTDI), while EDI for Pb (0.0004 – 2.6 µg/kg-bw/day) and Ni (0.32 – 2 µg/kg-bw/day) was within the limit for all sites, except Ni in site II (34 µg/kg-bw/day) which was higher than the PTDI of 5 µg/kg-bw/day. The THQ of Cd in all sites was greater than 1, while Pb and Ni generally recorded THQ < 1. The hazard index (HI) was as follows: site I (2.36), sites II (24.44) and site III (6.5), highlighting a potential hazardous effect to humans as a result of the consumption of Tympanotonus fuscatus obtained from site II and III. The sediment pollution assessment revealed that the contamination factor (CF) and geoaccumulation index, Igeo of Cd were far above the permissible limits while Pb and Ni were mostly within limits. The estimated contamination degree (CD) and pollution load index (PLI) showed a high degree of pollution, which can be mainly attributed to the high degree of Cd contamination in the sediment. Therefore, the area under investigation is highly polluted and the periwinkle obtained from Iko river in the study area is unfit for human consumption.


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