No abstract

Wastes, if not properly managed can cause severe complications within ecosystem. Farmers use soil from dumpsites without regards for the health implication the heavy metal contents of such soil type may pose. The levels of these heavy metals need to be ascertained to know their fate. Five heavy metals (chromium, nickel, zinc, lead and copper) were analysed for their levels in soil at four different directions (east, west, north and south) by wet digestion spectrophotometrically. Heavy metals in soil were zinc (1133±897 mg/kg), nickel (26.3± 51.1 mg/kg), copper (110±90 mg/kg), lead (137± 64 mg/kg) and chromium (3.63±2.46 mg/kg). Concentration in sampling site were higher than soils from background with factors of 67 (zinc), 18 (copper), and 20 (lead). Index of geoaccumulation revealed soil to be moderately to strongly polluted with zinc, copper and lead. Inter-element correlation was in the range 0.90 -0.99. Near-by farmlands are exposed to these heavy metals. Surface water near the site will not be usable for irrigation and other categories of water usages. Wastes from the dump site can be reduced, reused and recycled.