Environmental Pollution by Heavy Metals in the Gold Mining Region of East Cameroon

Abstract

The main objective of this study is to assess the level of heavy metals pollution in soil samples collected around gold mines located in Betaré Oya (BO) and Batouri (BA) in Eastern Cameroon. Elemental analysis of soil samples was carried out using Quant´X EDXRF spectrometer. Its sensitivity and accuracy were increased by using the Fundamental Parameter approach for quantification of the results. Analysis results showed high content of iron (39300±200 ppm), the presence of manganese (730±70 ppm), arsenic (4±2 ppm), zirconium (314±4 ppm) and lead (79±9 ppm) as compared to worldwide average upper continental crust (UCC). The mean Enrichment Factors (EF) decrease as Pb>As>Zr>Mn>Fe>Y>Ga>Zn>Cu>Ni> Rb>Sr>Sn>Ba in agreement with the Contamination Factors (CF). The values of pollution load index (PLI) were found to be low in all the studied samples and indicate that the studied sites in Bétaré Oya and Batouri are in low pollution status regarding the total of the studied metals. Results of this study pointed out that soils examined in the gold mining areas of Eastern Cameroon are polluted by heavy metals. It is therefore important that measures should be geared towards strengthening the monitoring of mining areas to stem down the level of contamination of soil. Phytoremediation of sites after closing open pits or the biogeosystem method would be a suitable way of regulation of the studies areas.

Speciation Analysis and Ecological Risk Assessment of Antimony in Xikuangshan, Hunan Province

“…The PER index of concrete heavy metal pollution can be expressed as: (2) ..where E r i is the PER factor of a given element; T r i is its toxicity index (which is 7 [17]); C r i is the pollution factor; D i is the average content of the target element; B i is the standard reference level in the industry (B i = 1.5 for Sb [18,19]). E r i <40, 40≤E r i <80, 80≤E r i <160, 160≤E r i <320, and E r i >320 mean low, modest, high, severe and very severe PER respectively [20,21].…”

Seasonal Variation and Sources of Elements in Urban Submicron and Fine Aerosol in Brno, Czech Republic

“…The reference element is an element strongly stable in the crust (Rudnick and Gao, 2003). Typical reference elements used in other studies are Al (Barbieri, 2016;Rogula-Kozłowska et al, 2012;Rogula-Kozłowska et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2007;Sudheer and Rengarajan, 2012), Fe (Blanchard et al, 2018, Coufalík et al, 2016Ghrefat et al, 2011), Mn (Barbieri, 2016) and Ce (Coufalík et al, 2016). EF is calculated using the equation:…”

Association between heavy metal uptake and growth and reproduction in the anecic earthworm, Alma nilotica (Grube 1855)

“…Soil pollution by heavy metals has received increasing attention in recent decades (Blanchard et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2021). In Cameroon, for example, increased environmental contamination with heavy metals continues to be a subject of major concern.…”

“…In Cameroon, for example, increased environmental contamination with heavy metals continues to be a subject of major concern. Studies conducted in various localities of the country (Defo et al, 2015;Mofor et al, 2017;Blanchard et al, 2018;Nfor et al, 2022a;Nfor et al, 2022b) have revealed soils contaminated with heavy metals at non-negligible levels from various anthropogenic activities including mining, industrial activities, addition of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as transportation, dumping and discharge of waste electrical and electronic equipment.…”