Assessment of Pb Enrichment and Depletion in Selected Contaminated Arable Soils of Nigeria Using Calcium as a Reference Element

Uduma Anya Uduma^1, and W. L. O. Jimoh¹

¹Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria

Cite this paper

Uduma Anya Uduma and W. L. O. Jimoh. Assessment of Pb Enrichment and Depletion in Selected Contaminated Arable Soils of Nigeria Using Calcium as a Reference Element. World Journal of Agricultural Research. 2014; 2(1):5-11. doi: 10.12691/WJAR-2-1-2

Abstract

Lead (Pb) concentration was assessed of the arable soils in the vicinity of mining and dumping sites in Nigeria. Its contents in the arable soils assayed by means of atomic absorption spectrophotometry, (AAS) ranged from 6.8 – 47.8 mg/kg. The enrichment factor (EF) calculated by using calcium as a reference element fell within a range of 5.6 – 36.9. The mean values of the enrichment factor of 18.5 classified the soil as significantly contaminated with lead. Anthropogenic activities contribute significantly to the elevated level of lead in the studied areas. This poses serious debilitatiing effects on the agro – ecosystems, since lead has no known essential functions in plants metabolism.

Keywords

Zamfara, ara ble soils, anthropogenic activities, lead, enrichment, depletion, enrichment factor

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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