Assessments of physicochemical properties and heavy metals content in soils from selected solid waste dumpsites in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna Atate, Nigeria

Abstract

Representative samples of the solid wastes were collected from three dumpsites in Kaduna metropolis respectively using standard sampling methods. Control samples were obtained at about 200m from the dumpsites. Physical and chemical properties of these samples were assessed after extraction. Classical and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric methods were used for the analysis. Results obtained were subjected to statistical analysis for the range, mean & standard deviation. The results indicates that Fe has the highest concentration of 4935.0 mg/kg and the least was Ni with 28.1mg/kg. Likewise, the contamination status of metals shows that, Pb has the status of 5.0 as the highest while Cr has 0.5 as the least. The results of the physicochemical parameters obtained were within the permissible limits specified by Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) for micro and macro nutrients, while the heavy metals content were above the limits specified by World Health Organization (WHO) and FAO for soils.