Abstract:
Vegetable production on dumpsites soils in Imo State has become popular owing to quicker
biomass production and income generation. Sequel to this, an assessment of heavy metals in such
soils was conducted at Irette, Ogbaku, Orogwe, Nekede and Akwakuma dumpsites alongside
areas without refuse dumps (control sites).soil samples were collected from each dumpsites as
well as from control sites using soil auger at the depth of 0 – 20 cm. vegetable (Amaranth) was
collected from each dumpsite and control sites. Both soil and Amaranth were prepared and
analyzed for heavy metals: Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn). Results
showed that heavy metal concentrations of soil and in Amaranthus cultivated on soils
characterized in dumpsites are significantly (P=0.05) higher than the adjacent (control) sites. also
result showed that Cr, Cu and Zn contents of soil are lower (3.06,109.70 and 21.29mg/kg
respectively) than recommended limit by World Health Organization (1996) (100,140 and 50
mg/kg respectively), the range within the vegetable (amaranth) were above the normal limit
suggesting that vegetable has a way of concentrating metals in their tissues. Therefore based on
this study, farmers should avoid growing vegetables (Amaranth) in dumps to avoid food
contamination and health hazard. |
