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Assessment of pollution trend of heavy metals in soils in the vicinity of Nigerian Gas Company in Ughelli, Delta State


GE Nwajei

Abstract

Topsoil and subsoil obtained in the vicinity of the Nigerian Gas Company were digested and analysed for some selected trace metals using atomic absorption spectrophotometer of model pye unicam SP 2900. The trace metals determined include nickel, copper, iron, barium, lead, cadmium and zinc respectively. The analytical results obtained revealed that the aforementioned trace metals were detected and metal concentrations were highly varied for both topsoil and subsoil. Soil samples (topsoil and subsoil) showed
significant higher metal concentrations when compared with those of the background samples. The mean concentrations of nickel, iron, barium, lead and cadmium in topsoil (0-15 cm) were lower than those values obtained in subsoil (15-30 cm). The results of this study were also compared with other similar studies within Nigeria. The results indicate significant enrichment of trace metals in the studied areas. The metal enrichment reported in this study is traceable to petroleum activities in the Niger Delta region.

Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 1997-342X
print ISSN: 1991-8631