Abstract
Soil, vegetation and atmospheric pollution have been a serious problem in recent years in Lafia, especially among the communities living along the major highways due to increase in industrialization and vehicular movements. The level of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn) in Neem tree leaves, bark and soil along major roads in Lafia were determined using digestion and atomic absorption spectrophotometer methods. The leaves, trunk bark and soil samples were collected along Makurdi road (Tudun Kauri), Jos road (National Supply), Nasarawa state polytechnic site and Obi road (Maraba Akunza). The aim was to assess the level of the metals in the samples. The mean concentration of metals in the various locations along roads varied between Pb (0.028 to 0.570 mg/kg), Zn (0.061 to 1.326 mg/kg), Ni (0.028 to 0.261 mg/kg), Cr (0.013 to 0.201 mg/kg). Samples from Makurdi road (Tudun Kauri) indicated higher level of Zn, while sample from Jos road indicated the highest level of Pb. Levels of Cr and Ni in the various locations were obtained in minute quantities and were largely undetected in most of the samples. However, levels of all the metals obtained from the various locations along the major roads were below the WHO/FDA maximum permissible levels of heavy metals in plants. The Neem plant (Azadirachta indica) could be a good bioindicator of Pb and Zn. Key words: Heavy metal, neam leaves, bark, soil, digestion, atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
Highlights
Biomonitoring consists of the use of responses of individual plants or plant associations at several biological organization levels in order to detect or predict changes in the environment and to follow their evolution as a function of time
The result of this study revealed the distribution of trace metals (Pb, Fe, Zn, Cu, and Cr) in the roadside soils and bush mint plant along some major roads in the capital city of Nigeria
Correlation between heavy metals in different plants at different sites were calculated for each metal separately and a positive correlation was observed. The presence of these metal ions in plant leaves explain the fact that these plant leaves were good bioindicators and can be used in air pollution monitoring studies in industrial areas (Moh’d et al, 2012). This present study aims at evaluating the trace metal concentration in neem leaves, trunk bark and soil along some major roads in Lafia city, Nigeria, to assess the level of accumulation of Pb, Cr, Ni, Zn and Cd, to have a baseline information of the metal pollution from automobile emissions on the roadside neem plants and soil at various locations and to suggest the continuity of the medicinal usage of the trees along the major roads which has little or no data in Lafia
Summary
Biomonitoring consists of the use of responses of individual plants or plant associations at several biological organization levels in order to detect or predict changes in the environment and to follow their evolution as a function of time. Some plant species are sensitive to single pollutants or to mixtures of pollutants. Those species or cultivars are likely to be used in order to monitor the effects of air pollutants as bioindicator plants (ISEB, 2005). They have the great advantage to show clearly the effects of phytotoxic compounds present in ambient air. As such, they are ideal for demonstration purposes. They can be used to monitor temporal and spatial distributions of pollution effects.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
