Determination of Physicochemical and Heavy Metal Content of Soil around Paint Industries in Kaduna

Abstract

the increasing trend of environmental contamination by heavy metals is an issue of concern. The need for a continual monitoring of heavy metal content of soil around industrial areas becomes pertinent. The present study focuses on the physicochemical properties and heavy metal content of soil around vicinities of paint industries in Kaduna. The range of pH, EC and TOM obtained were 6.50±0.20 to 8.03±0.20, 225±20.1 to 520±14.0μS/cm and 2.18±0.01 to 3.10±0.01% respectively. The percentage of sand was 61 to 89% while silt and clay were 12 to 29% and 0 to 10% respectively. The mean concentrations of the heavy metals were: Pb (30.80±0.15 to 79.60±0.87 μg/g), Zn (128.35±2.16 to 273.00±0.92 μg/g), Cu (15.45±0.39 to 27.00±0.0.13 μg/g), Mn (102.9±1.47 to 237.2±0.75 μg/g), Cd (ND to 1.30±0.20 μg/g), Cr (28.50±0.36 to 51.50±0.30 μg/g) and Fe (1084.43±3.58 to 6542.32±2.56 μg/g). The metal content of the samples were generally higher when compared to those of the control which indicates contaminations mainly due anthropogenic contributions. The result of geoaccumulation index and enrichment factor also revealed moderate contamination in most of the samples. There was also a significant positive correlation (p<0.05) among some of the metals investigated