Heavy Metals Pollution Status of Sediments of Ahmadu Bello University Dam, Zaria-Nigeria

Abstract

Pollution status of the sediments of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) dam, Zaria-Nigeria, was assessed. Twenty-four samples were collected from specified stations and analyzed for the concentrations of Ni, Pb, Cd, Co, and Cr, using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. The concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals ranged between 1.162±0.006(A) and 49.878±0.685(K); 53.262±0.075(H) and 105.546±0.842(I); 2.427±0.001(F) and 3.343±0.002 (J); 1.083±0.006(A) and 0.100±0.002(H); 7.572±0.042(E)) and 27.222±0.053 mg/kg (K), respectively. All values were below the permissible limits declared by World Health Organization (WHO) (2006). Pollution load index (PLI) and geo-accumulation index (I-geo) were employed to assess the pollution status of the dam across the sampling stations. The PLI values obtained across the sampling stations ranged between 5.94×10^-7 (A)and8.19×10^-5 (K).The I-geo found for the concentrations of Ni, Pb, Cd, Co and Cr in the sediments ranged between -6.597(A) and -1.173(K); -3.564(H) and -2.2.577(I); -5.715(F) and -5.297(L); -5.893(D & E) and - 4.047(J) respectively. Results obtained indicate that none of the sampling stations was polluted. The data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis (ANOVA) and P values > 0.05 obtained for the analyzed metals indicate that there were no significant differences in the concentrations of the analyzed metals across the sampling points

Keywords: ABU dam, Sediments, Heavy metals, Pollution index (PLI), Geo-accumulation index (I-geo)