Assessment of Some Heavy Metals in Leafy Vegetables Grown in the Vicinity of Dump Site along River Benue, Mubi Road, Yola, Nigeria

Abstract

The quality of vegetables grown in the vicinity of dumpsite along river Benue basin Yola Adamawa state was investigated to determine the effect of the wastes. A total of twenty samples were studied, from each of vegetable, soil and water at different distances 50, 100 and 200m from the dumpsite. Heavy metals concentration examined were found in the following order: Zn>Cu>Cr>Cd>Pb>As. The same order of heavy metals content was found in vegetables and water with slight change in the sequences of the position of Pb and Cr. In the other hand Zn, Cu and Cr was found to decrease with increase in the sampling distance and were also found to be significantly different from each sampling distance at 0.05% significance. Pb, Cd & As, shows slight irregularities and negligible value. The relatively higher level of metals observed in the dump site vegetables compared with the control vegetables show that refuse dump contribute to the metallic levels in the study site. Although the values obtained in the vegetables tissues are not significantly higher to national and international Standards.