Analysis of heavy metals concentration deposited in roadside soil

GARBA, N.N., ISMAâÂ

Abstract

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) flame atomization technique was used to analyzed the concentration of Pb, Cr, Mn, Zn, Cd and Ni on the soil samples collected from a segment of the Samaru highway (Sokoto Road) from Main gate to North gate (and from North gate to Main gate) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. A total of ten (10) samples from both sides of the road were collected systematically and analyzed at the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria. The result of the analysis showed that Lead (Pb) has the highest concentration level followed by Manganese (Mn), Chromium (Cr) and Cadmium (Cd) with mean values of 1.4439ppm and1.7850 ppm, 0.3192ppm and 0.3254ppm, 0.0154ppm and 0.0131ppm, and 0.1726ppm and 0.1449ppm respectively. The concentration level of the heavy metals obtained from the analysis is lower than the Maximum Permissible Limits of 20ppm, 0.2ppm, 60ppm, and 0.25ppm for Lead, Manganese, Chromium and Cadmium respectively.