Evaluation of Heavy Metals in Roadside Soil of Tumfure Main Market, Gombe State

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution has been a problem of concern in soil ecology in recent decades. This study evaluated the physico-chemical  characteristics and heavy metal contents in roadside soil samples of Tumfure main market, Gombe, Nigeria. The soil samples were  collected from six different sampling points with a control sample each by handpicking, this was followed by oven-drying, ground to fine grain, and then sieved using a 2 mm mesh sieve. The pH, electrical conductivity and bulk density were carried out on the soil samples,  sieve and sedimentation method were used to determine the soil texture. The soil samples were weighed and digested using mixture of  HCl and HNO3. The contents (mg/kg) of four metals (cadmium, copper, lead and zinc) were estimated using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Among the metals analyzed, the contents of Cd, Cu and Pb were not detected while the content of Zn (23.454 -  36.026) was found to be within the desirable permissible limits by the World Health Organization (WHO) and European Regulatory  Standards (EURS) whose prevalence is to be considered non-toxic in unpolluted soils.