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Heavy Metals Concentration Analysis in Air Particulates of Some Major Towns of Nasarawa State–Nigeria

Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Int. Res. J. Environment Sci., Volume 5, Issue (8), Pages 22-28, August,22 (2016)

Abstract

This work analyzed the presence of seven heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Pb, Mn, Zn, Cu and Ni) measured in fine particulates (PM10) samples collected daily using a Whatman glass fiber filters in five major towns of Nasarawa State, Nigeria, using a high volume respirable dust sampler (APM 460 NL). Ambient air laden with suspended particulates enters the APM 460 NL system through the inlet pipe as the air passes through the cyclone; it is acted upon by centrifugal forces which separate it into fine and coarse particles. The wet digestion method (HNO3 / HFl) was used for metal analysis by the Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (FAAS) method. The mean concentration of PM10 in the study towns was found to range from 40 – 80 µg/m3. FAAS analysis of the PM10 samples shows that the concentrations of heavy metals ranged from 0.018 - 0.064 mg/m3 for Cd, 0.000 - 0.062 mg/m3 for Cr, 0.300 - 0.720 mg/m3 for Pb, 0.110 - 0.184 mg/m3 for Mn, 0.195 - 4.480 mg/m3 for Zn, 0.088- 0.124 mg/m3 for Cu, and 0.000- 0.146 mg/m3 for Ni across the study towns. The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Mn were found to be far above the WHO/EU permissible limit levels of 0.005 mg/m3,0.050 mg/m3and 0.150 mg/m3 respectively. Weak correlations were found between the concentrations of the heavy metals. The correlation coefficient R ranged from 0.001 – 0.240 which signified that the sources of metals in the ambient air of the study towns comes from different anthropogenic influences, meteorological factors and vehicular traffic. These results suggested that the people living and working in these towns are exposed to health risk. We do recommend that policy makers should step up regulations to monitor these anthropogenic activities to caution the effects.

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