Assessment of soil metals status in parts of Rivers State, Nigeria

M.P Wanjala,I Etela,L Odokuma,R Ramkat

doi:10.4314/jasem.v23i3.26

Abstract

The study evaluates levels of metals in soils of 9 locations in Port Harcourt and its environs in Rivers State in Nigeria. Composite samples were collected by random sampling from each of the 9 test locations, 3 control samples were also collected from each of the study areas. Concentration levels of (Lead) Pb, (Copper) Cu, (Cadmium) Cd, (Zinc) Zn, (Calcium) Ca, (Nickel) Ni, (Sodium) Na, (Potassium) K, (Chromium) Cr, (Magnesium) Mg, (Manganese) Mn, and (Sulphur) S in soil were measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The obtained mean levels of Pb, Cu, Cd, Zn, Ca, Ni, Na, K, Cr, Mn and Mg were 1.45±0.16, 0.22±0.04, 0.04±0.01, 2.61±0.51, 12.99±4.81, 0.75±0.08, 173.64±35.31, 6.06±1.58, 0.27±0.03, 4.21±0.61 and 11.87±2.10 ppm respectively. There were significant differences in levels of Pb among the test and control samples (p=.048). There was significant difference in levels of Cu among the test and control samples (p=0.001). There was significant difference in levels of Zn among the test and control samples (p=0.016). The study establishes that urbanization, industrialization and agricultural activities do affect the level of metals in the soils of the study areas. The pollution of soils with metals in the studied sites is within permissible limits, however, levels of Zn, Cd and Ni should be on close monitoring to in the industrial areas and urbanized areas. The study establishes that oil and gas activities variedly affect the levels of metal pollution in urbanized, industrialized and agricultural areas. Keywords: Anthropogenic activities, Metals, Impact, Ecosystem, Integrity

Highlights

Environmental pollution is an increase in the concentration of both biological and physicochemical parameters above the environmental baseline levels
Human disturbance is a primary cause of environmental degradation and loss of soil ecosystem integrity
This study examines the Human Influence on Soil Metals Status in parts of Rivers State, Nigeria

Summary

Introduction

Environmental pollution is an increase in the concentration of both biological and physicochemical parameters above the environmental baseline levels These baseline levels may be determined in the environment. The World Bank foresees that 2.2 billion tons of wastes will be produced by 2025, which is an increase of 69% and reflects urbanization and industrialization (Hoornweg and Bhada, 2012). It is not certain of all the areas that are contaminated in Nigeria and there is need for continuous monitoring of the environment in order to come up with the sites that are polluted. Lead (Pb) damages chlorophyll where its toxicity arises from its ability to replace cations including Na+, Ca2+, Mg 2+ and Fe2+ (Harmanescu et al, 2011)

Methods

Results

Conclusion