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HEAVY METALS AND POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS CONTENT IN SOIL AND CASSAVA PLANT (MANIHOT ESCULENTA) AT METAL WASTE DUMPSITE IN UMUAHIA SOUTH, ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

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Product Category: Projects

Product Code: 00009400

No of Pages: 117

No of Chapters: 1-5

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ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to assess heavy metal concentrations in soil and their accumulation in cassava plant parts at the metal waste dumpsite in Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected randomly at depths of 0 – 10 cm, 11 – 20 cm, 21 – 30 cm, 31 – 40 cm and 41 – 50 cm from nine (9) sampling points, three (3) each at entry, middle and exit positions within the site. Cassava plant samples were collected randomly at nine points from the nearby farmland, about 1m away from the dumpsite. The chemical properties of soil and macro elements assessments were carried out to examine heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Soil chemical properties analysed were pH, organic matter and electrical conductivity. Macro elements studied were zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na) and potassium (k). Heavy metals were assessed using Agilent FS240AA Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). PAHs were assessed using Gas chromatography (GC-MS). In soil, total heavy metal levels ranged from (mg/kg), 0.01 to 0.13 for Cr, 0.27 to 1.28 for Cu, 0.93 to 2.57 for Pb, and 0.11 to 0.26 for Cd. Their mean values were (mg/kg), 0.062 for Cr, 0.606 for Cu, 1.544 for Pb, 0.212 for Cd. The rank profile of the metals were Pb > Cu > Cd > Cr. In the cassava plant, total heavy metal levels ranged from (mg/kg), 0.018 to 0.051 for Cr, 0.10 to 4.01 for Cu, 0.82 to 2.08 for Pb, 0.20 to 3.24 for Cd. The result shows that high Pb content was obtained for the different cassava plant parts when compared with the FAO/WHO permissible limit, whereas other metals were well below their permissible limits, except Cd which exceeded its permissible limit of 0.7 – 1.1mg/kg in the root only. Eleven PAHs were detected across the different soil depths, they include, fluorine, flouranthene, benzo(a)flouranthene, benzo(b)flouranthene, benzo(ghi)perylene, 1– 2benzanthrene, xylene, phenanthrene, naphthalene, anthtacene and dibenzyl(ah)anthracene. The root accumulated the most mean concentration for PAHs (0.003μg/g), followed by the leaf (0.00224μg/g), then the stem (0.0016μg/g). The results show that the levels of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the soil and cassava plant were small and were way below their permissible limits, only Pb exceeded its permissible limit at all parts of the cassava plant. The result also shows that at 41 – 50cm, there were concentrations of the studied contaminants. This could be call for concern as further contamination deeper into the soil horizon could pose threat on underground water quality. Therefore, proactive measures should be adopted to remediate contamination.






TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page                                                                                                                    i

Declaration                                                                                                                 ii

Certification                                                                                                                          iii

Dedication                                                                                                                  iv

Acknowledgements                                                                                                    vii

Table of Contents                                                                                                       viii

List of Tables                                                                                                              ix

List of Figures                                                                                                             x

List of Plates                                                                                                               xi

Abstract                                                                                                                      xii

 

 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION                                                                            1

 

1.1       Background of the Study                                                                                1

1.2       Statement of Problems                                                                                    3

1.3       Scope of the Study                                                                                          4

1.4       Aim and Objectives of the Study                                                                   4

1.5       Research Questions                                                                                        5

1.6       Significance of the Study                                                                               5

 

 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

 

2.1       Scrap Metals Generation and Management                                                   6

2.2       Soil Properties Affecting Metals Availability and Mobility                          8

2.2.1    Hydrogen ion (H+) concentration                                                                   8

2.2.2    Soil electrical conductivity                                                                            8

2.2.3    Organic matter                                                                                                9

2.3       Selected Heavy Metals                                                                                   9

2.3.1    Cadmium (Cd)                                                                                                9

2.3.2    Chromium (Cr)                                                                                               11

2.3.3    Lead (Pb)                                                                                                        12

2.3.4    Copper (Cu)                                                                                                    14

2.3.5    Zinc (Zn)                                                                                                         15

2.4       Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)                                                  20

2.4.1    Sources of PAHs                                                                                             21

2.4.2   PAHs in soil                                                                                                     22

2.4.3   Routes of exposure to PAHs                                                                            23

2.4.4   PAHs in foods                                                                                                  23

2.4.5   PAHs health effects on humans                                                                       24

 

CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS                                                   

 

3.1      Study Area                                                                                                       28

3.1.1    Location                                                                                                          28

3.1.2    Climate                                                                                                           28

3.1.3    Vegetation                                                                                                      28

3.1.4    Geology and soil                                                                                             29

3.1.5    Major human activities                                                                                   29

3.2       Sources of Data                                                                                              34

3.3      Selection of Sample Site                                                                                 34

3.4       Experimental design                                                                                       37

3.4.1   Soil samples collection and Pre-treatment                                                      38

3.4.2   Plant sampling and pre-treatment                                                                   39

3.5      Some Chemical Analysis of Soil                                                                     40

3.5.1   pH                                                                                                                    40

3.5.2   Electrical conductivity                                                                                     40

3.5.3   Organic matter                                                                                                 40

3.5.4   Method for heavy metals analysis                                                                   41

3.5.5   Method for GC analysis of PAHs                                                                    42

3.6       Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis of Data                                   43

 

 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

 

4.1       Results                                                                                                            44

4.2       Discussion                                                                                                       68

4.2.1    Some physico-chemical properties of the soil                                                68

4.2.2    Macro elements content in soil                                                                       69

4.2.3    Macro Elements in Cassava Plant Parts                                                         70

4.2.4    Heavy Metal Content in Soil                                                                          73

4.2.5    Heavy Metals Content in Cassava Plant                                                        76

4.2.6    Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Soil                                                    78

4.2.7    Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Cassava Plant Parts                           80

4.2.8    Correlation Analysis of Data                                                                          81

4.2.8.1 Correlation between heavy metals and macro elements content in soil      81

4.2.8.2 Correlation between heavy metals and macro elements content in

cassava plant                                                                                                   81

4.2.8.3 Correlation between heavy metals in soil and cassava plant                         82

4.2.8.4 Correlation between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and

cassava plant                                                                                                   82

 

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1       Conclusion                                                                                                      84

5.2       Recommendations                                                                                          85

References                                                                                                      86

Appendices                                                                                                     104

 






LIST OF TABLES


4.1       Means and standard deviation of selected chemical properties of

the soil                                                                                                           45

 

4.2       Means and standard deviation of macro elements content in soil                47

 

4.3       Means and standard deviation macro elements content in

Manihot esculenta                                                                                          49

 

4.4       Means and standard deviation of heavy metals content in soil                    51

 

4.5       Means and standard deviation of heavy metals content in

Manihot esculenta                                                                                          53

 

4.6       Means and standard deviation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAH) in soil                                                                                                  55

 

4.7       Means and standard deviation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)

in Manihot esculenta                                                                                      57

 

4.8       Correlation between macro elements in soil and macro elements in

Manihot esculenta                                                                                          59

 

4.9       Correlation between heavy metals and macro element content in soil      61

 

4.10    Correlation between heavy metals and macro elements content                               in Manihot esculenta                                                                                      63

 

4.11    Correlation between heavy metals in soil and heavy metals in

Manihot esculenta                                                                                         65

 

4.12    Correlation between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and

Manihot esculenta                                                                                          67

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIST OF FIGURES


3.1       Nigeria showing Abia State                                                                            30

3.2       Abia State showing Umuahia South                                                               31

3.3       Umuahia South showing the study area, Ohiya Mechanic

Village                                                                                                            32

3.4       Ohiya mechanic village showing samples collection points  34

 

3.5       Experimental design                                                                                       37

 

 

  

 

LIST OF PLATES


1          Showing collection of reusable metal waste at the site                                  34

2          Showing dumped metal wastes at the site                                                      35

3          Showing burning activity at the dumpsite                                                      35

4          Showing farmland next to the site.                                                                 36

 

 

 

 


CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The environment is exposed to continuous contamination due to inevitable commercial, social and domestic activities by humans such as agriculture, mineral exploitation, industrial production and food processing. These anthropogenic activities release heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the environment (Demirezen and Aksoy, 2006)

Heavy metal contamination is an environmental issue, globally recognized, threatening human lives immensely. The increase in population and high demand for food has resulted in the release of various contaminants into the environment. These contaminants eventually enter the food chain. Edible plants are the major source of diet, and their contamination with toxic metals may result in disastrous health hazards. Heavy metals affect human health directly and/or indirectly; one of the indirect effects is the change in plant nutritional values, changes such as, insufficient production of chlorophyll on the leaves of plants giving rise to yellow leaves (chlorosis), stunted growth, deficiencies in the formation of grains and maturity, root formation, etc. (Khan et al., 2015).

Heavy metals are important constituents for plants and humans but only in small amount. Some micronutrients or trace elements may also be toxic to both animals and plants at high concentrations; such as copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), fluorine (F), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni), selenium (Se) or zinc (Zn). Other trace elements such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) are toxic even at small concentrations. They are known to be persistent in the environment as they are neither removed by normal cropping nor easily leached by rain water (Enenche et al., 2016).

Plant species growing on metal contaminated soil are exposed to contamination by absorption and translocation processes. The roots of the plant species absorb metals from soil solution and translocate the metals to the stems and leaves. This process results to bioaccumulation of metals in the plant tissues (Amusan et al., 2005), depending on the type of metal, plant species and plant part (Juste and Mench, 1992).

According to Patel et al. (2015), “Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of chemical compounds, with a similar structure made up of two or more joined aromatic carbon rings”. The compounds are formed by combustion of fuels, biomass and waste mate  rials. Polycyclic aromatic compounds are known to be carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds, causing irreversible changes in the structure and functioning of living organisms (Patel et al., 2015). Some PAHs are at the same time persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic for humans and other organisms. Persistence means that the substances are not easily broken down hence remain in the environment for a long time. Bioaccumulative chemicals accumulate in organisms, including the human body. Substances having these three characteristics (persistent, toxic and bioaccumulative) show a certain level of concern under an environmental aspect. PAHs enter the atmosphere by binding to dust and soot particles. Due to their persistence, they can be transported over long distances. Dusts eventually return to the earth’s surface via rain, fog, or snow and are deposited on soil, plants, as well as surface waters (Quiroz et al., 2010).

Studies have been carried out on metal waste generation, movement and dumping in terms of poverty alleviation (Magaji and Dakye, 2011), quality of work life of metal waste scavengers (Engler et al., 2009), recovering and recycling of metal wastes (USGS, 2002; Norgate et al., 2007; Onwughara et al., 2010). Research also shows that there is paucity of data on metals and PAHs contamination in soil and their accumulation in plants at metal waste dumpsites in Umuahia. This study, therefore, attempts to fill this gap by assessing the concentrations of selected metals and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and cassava plant at the major metal waste dumpsite in Ohiya mechanic village, Umuahia South, Abia state, Nigeria. This research was necessary to ascertain the level of contamination of heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and cassava plant.

1.2       STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Due to the global growing campaign for recovering, reusing and recycling of solid wastes such as metal wastes, there has been an increase in the above mentioned processes of waste management. These environmental management processes have helped to manage the environment, provide source of income to skilled and unskilled individuals (Adebola, 2006; Nzeadibe, 2009), improve the economy (Papp, 2001). However, the methods used in the the recovering of reusable or recyclable materials has on the other hand contributed to the contamination of the environment (soil, air, water, plants, animal and humans). During the recovering of metals wastes, waste scavengers are exposed to health hazards (Nzeadibe, 2009). Metal wastes are collected from different parts of a region (homes, MSW, construction site, landfills, etc) and assembled at a provided site for the purpose of recovering useful components of the metal waste, thereafter they are moved to the recycling facility. The soil and other surrounding environmental media at the host site for salvaged metals may be exposed to contaminants. Air quality becomes threatened by air pollutants, water bodies are contaminated by leachates via run-off (Enenche et al., 2016). Plants growing within the affected environment may take up metals via the roots (Amusan et al., 2005). Furthermore, human beings who come in contact with the contaminated soil and who depend on the contaminated plants for food may be exposed to health hazards (Kim et al., 2013). Animals which feed on the contaminated plants will absorb the metals and PAHs into their system, and further transferred to humans who feed on them. This process results to bioaccumulation (uptake from the ambient environment) and biomagnification (uptake along the food chain) (Chaphekar, 1991).

The issue of the contamination of the environment in Umuahia via the activities involved in recovering reusable and recyclable metals wastes at the metal wastes dumpsite may be a call for concern, hence the need for this study.

1.3    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study focused mainly on determining the level of heavy metal and Polycyclic Aromatic hydrocarbons concentrations in soil and cassava plant (Manihot esculenta) (Root, stem and leaves), sampled within the scrap metals dumpsite at Ohiya mechanic village in Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State Nigeria.

 

1.4           AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The aim of the study was to assess the heavy metal concentration (Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu) and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil and their accumulation in Manihot esculenta at the scrap metal dumpsite in Ohiya mechanic village, Umuahia South Local Government Area. The following specific objectives were to assess:

      i.         The physic-chemical properties (pH, electrical conductivity and organic matter) of soil at the study area

     ii.         The macro elements (Zn, Ca, Na, K) in the soil and Manihot esculenta at the study area

   iii.         Heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Pb, Cd) in the soil and Manihot esculenta at the study area

   iv.         Some Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the soil and Manihot esculenta at the study area


1.5        SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

 

The study provides baseline data on the levels of selected metals, chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and copper (Cu); macro elements, zinc (Zn), calcium (Ca), potassium (K) and sodium (Na); and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in soil and Manihot esculenta parts at the scrap metal dumpsite in Ohiya mechanic village, Umuahia South, Abia State. The information will provide basis for further studies or monitoring of their concentrations in soil and plants within the study area.

The findings will help to expose the level of metals and PAHs contamination in soil at the site and the potential threats of heavy metal uptake and PAHs contamination on plant growing around the study area. This will awaken the consciousness of people who depend on plants growing around the study site for food. Also, findings from this study will be a good working tool for the Ministry of Environment and other environmental agencies in Abia State.

 

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