Abstract: The levels of heavy metals were assessed in three randomly chosen dump sites. Nine soil samples were drawn at the depth of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-45 cm on each of the three randomly chosen locations and plant samples from three locations from the dumpsites, one plant from each site. The result of the analysis carried out showed that Iron (Fe) has the highest total mean concentration in both the soil and plants from the three dumpsites with the mean values of 763.86 mg/kg and 148.86 mg/kg respectively. The total mean concentrations for lead (Pb) in soil and plant samples were 0.35 mg/kg and 0.23 mg/kg respectively. The total mean concentration of Manganese (Mn) in the soil and plant samples was 11.70 mg/kg and 2.37 mg/kg respectively. Zinc, in the order of concentration had total mean concentrations of 4.01 mg/kg and 2.24 mg/kg for soil and plant samples respectively. Cadmium (Cd) had the least total mean concentration from the soil samples with the value of 0.0078 mg/kg, although it was absent in the soil samples of Sites A and B, and also not detected in all of the plant samples. Assessments of some physicochemical properties of these metals were also carried out. The results show that the soils around the dumpsites were slightly alkaline with mean pH of 7.4. The soil moisture, Organic carbon and organic matter contents had mean values of 1.92%, 1.19% and 2.06%, while the plants moisture and ash contents were 14.78% and 63.29% respectively.
Keywords: Heavy metals, Metalloids, dumpsites, physicochemical parameters, Environmental Contamination.
Title: DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN SOIL AND PLANTS OF THREE WASTE DUMPSITES IN ILORIN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
Author: Anyiam Ngozi Donald
International Journal of Mathematics and Physical Sciences Research
ISSN 2348-5736 (Online)
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