Volume 8, Issue 2, September 2014, Pages 210–217
BESSIE EFFANG SOLOMON1 and EDIDIONG ASUQUO ENOH2
1 Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B. 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
2 Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B. 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Heavy metal concentration of crops (cocoyam and pawpaw) grown around Aneakie Obiakor Illegal Dumpsite, Awka was studied. Plants samples were collected from the waste dumpsite and control site during wet season, and analysed for level of concentration of 10 heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric method (AAS). The result was compared with the control site and WHO/FAO standard. It was observed that all the heavy metals present in the plants were within WHO/FAO safe limit with the exception of Pb, Hg, As and Cd. The study revealed that the presence of solid wastes on agricultural soil results in heavy metal accumulation in soil and bioaccumulation in plants. The work therefore, recommended regular monitoring of metals in plants for prevention of excessive buildup of the metals in the food chain.
Author Keywords: Heavy Metals, Concentration, Dumpsite, Cocoyam, Pawpaw.
BESSIE EFFANG SOLOMON1 and EDIDIONG ASUQUO ENOH2
1 Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B. 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
2 Department of Environmental Management, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B. 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Heavy metal concentration of crops (cocoyam and pawpaw) grown around Aneakie Obiakor Illegal Dumpsite, Awka was studied. Plants samples were collected from the waste dumpsite and control site during wet season, and analysed for level of concentration of 10 heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric method (AAS). The result was compared with the control site and WHO/FAO standard. It was observed that all the heavy metals present in the plants were within WHO/FAO safe limit with the exception of Pb, Hg, As and Cd. The study revealed that the presence of solid wastes on agricultural soil results in heavy metal accumulation in soil and bioaccumulation in plants. The work therefore, recommended regular monitoring of metals in plants for prevention of excessive buildup of the metals in the food chain.
Author Keywords: Heavy Metals, Concentration, Dumpsite, Cocoyam, Pawpaw.
How to Cite this Article
BESSIE EFFANG SOLOMON and EDIDIONG ASUQUO ENOH, “HEAVY METAL CONCENTRATION OF COCOYAM AND PAWPAW CROPS GROWN AROUND ANAEKIE OBIAKOR ILLEGAL DUMPSITE, AWKA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 210–217, September 2014.
