Valuation of levels of some carcinogenic metals in the water and incidences of cancer along Hadejia-Jama'are River Basin Areas

Abstract

The determination of levels of some carcinogenic metals in the water and incidences of cancer was carried out in ten different local governments along Hadejia-Jama'are River Basin Areas, using standard procedures. Arsenic content was determined using UV Spectrophotometer after diazotization and heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry after acid digestion. The numbers of cancer patients were obtained from the Cancer Register of the health institutions along the basin after obtaining ethical approvals from the health institutions. The mean arsenic (As), of the water ranged from 3.35 – 10.60 µg/L, cadmium (Cd): 1.57 – 10.10 µg/L, chromium (Cr): 40.30 – 250.00 µg/L, nickel (Ni): 48.80 – 235.00 µg/L and lead (Pb): 19.50 – 38.20 µg/L. The metal concentrations in the water samples were higher in the dry season than the wet season. ANOVA showed significant differences at p<0.05 for Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb. The cancer levels were determined by matching the concentration of the heavy metals from each local government with number of cancer patients in the local government along the river basin route. The cancer cases along the basin were Bunkure- 13, Wudil- 16, Ajingi11, Ringim- 9, Taura- 8, K/Hausa- 10, Hadejia- 12, Jama'are- 3, Gashua- 14 and Nguru- 10. Using the principal component analysis (PCA) there was an excellent relationship between cancer burden and metal loads in the potable water of the basin while the hierarchical cluster dendrogram (HCD) analysis reveals that arsenic, chromium and cadmium may be the major contributors to cancer incidences along the basin.