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International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)

Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882


IJSRET @ 2014
HEAVY METALS IN SOILS AND VEGETABLES IRRIGATED WITH
URBAN GREY WASTE WATER IN FAGGE, KANO, NIGERIA
1
CHIROMA T. M.,
2
EBEWELE R. O. AND
2
HYMORE F.K.
1
Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University Of Technology Yola,
Adamawa State, Nigeria
2
Department of Chemical Engineering, University Of Benin, Benin City, Edo State Nigeria
ABSTRACT
There is currently an increased consumption of
vegetables within the local urban community. However,
contamination of these vegetables with heavy metals
poses a potential health hazard. Consequently, the
potential contamination problem due to the effect of
levels of some heavy metals (Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and
Cr) in soils and vegetables irrigated with drainage urban
grey waste water were investigated. The maximum
levels of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr in the urban grey waste
waters were respectively 2.8, 2.1, 19.5, 2.3 and 143.1
times, higher than the maximum recommended
concentrations of these metals: 5.0 g/ml, 2.0 g/ml, 0.2
g/ml, 0.2 g/ml and 0.1 g/ml, respectively, for
irrigation waters. The soils were found to be
contaminated with these metals to levels that range
between 24 to 84 percent contaminations. Although the
heavy metals concentration ranking in vegetable parts
vary with plant specie, the concentrations of Fe, Zn, Mn,
Cu and Cr in most parts of the vegetables were above
their critical concentrations of 750 1000 g/g, 100
400 g/g, 300 500 g/g, 20 100 g/g and 5 30
g/g, respectively, in plants. This suggests potential
toxicity of these parts of vegetables. It was however
found that over 40 percent of the concentrations of Fe,
Mg, Zn and Cu in Onions, Fe in Okro Cr in Bushgreen,
Cu in Roselle and Zn, Cu in Carrot leaves can be easily
removed by washing the leaves with water. However,
only Cu concentration in Onions and Bushgreen leaves
mets the acceptable permissible level in plants after
washing.
Keywords: Vegetables, Soils, Heavy metals, Urban grey
waste water and Critical concentrations
1. INTRODUCTION
At a time when environmental quality and food
production are of major concern to man, a better
understanding of the behavior of heavy metal in soil
plant systems seems to be particularly significant. The
sources of heavy metals in plants are their growth media
(e.g. soil, air and nutrient solution) from which heavy
metals are taken up by roots or foliage. Although heavy
metals are essential to plant nutrition (micro nutrients),
plants growing in a polluted environment can
accumulate heavy metal at high concentrations causing
serious risk to human health when plant - based
foodstuffs are consumed
1-3
. Urban effluents always
contain heavy metals, and long term irrigation with
untreated urban effluents has been shown to increase the
amount and bioavailability of heavy metals in the soil
4
.
The irrigation of rice in Paddy field with cadmium
contaminated water has claimed many lives along the
estuary of River Jintu from increase uptake of cadmium
in locally consumed rice grown in the field
5-6
.
The ancient city of Kano, located in the northern part of
Nigeria experiences an average annual rainfall of 70 mm
for a period of five months. The long dry season period
are used by the populace to cultivate vegetables, fruits
and food crops to meet the increasing demands of the
fast growing population. The irrigation waters used in
the study area (Fagge) is untreated drainage urban grey
waste water. It was also observed that untreated urban
urban grey waste water contains heavy metals
4
.
Therefore, the major objectives of this study is to
determine the extent of contamination by the heavy
metals (Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr) not only of the
irrigation water and soils but also, and particularly, the
vegetables. This will help establish the safety or
otherwise of crops irrigated with untreated drainage
urban grey waste water and hence their potential toxic
levels.
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1 Study Area;
The study area is the Fagge irrigation site along a major
drainage in Kano municipality. The soil texture is slight
to moderately light texture, sandy loam that is alkaline
(pH 7.6 9.5). Soil samples were obtained from each
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
farm by randomly taking soils from three spots within
the farm, and were mixed according to their depth to
give a representative samples. Plants were also randomly
sampled within the farm to get a representative sample.
Samples of water used for irrigating each farm were
taken for analysis of heavy metal content. In each of
these samples, the concentrations of the heavy metals
(Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr) were determined by atomic
absorption spectrometric (AAS) technique. The
detection limit and precision of the spectrometer (Pye.
Unicam. Model Sp 9, 1984) for the enumerated
elements are good. The sampling technique and sample
treatment for the determination of the heavy metal
concentrations are summarized below:
2.2 SOIL
Soil samples were taken at different depths at 5 cm
intervals to a depth of 30 cm. Samples were collected
into polyethylene bags, labeled and properly tied. In the
laboratory, the soil samples were spread on glass plates
and then dried in an oven at 105
o
C for six hours. The
dried soil were grounded and sieved through 0 5 cm
mesh sieve. The pH values of the soils were determined
with a digital pH meter (Jenway Model). Suspensions of
the soil samples were prepared by shaking one part of
the soil with 2.5 parts of distilled water. The electrode of
the pH meter was first standardized using a standard
buffer solution before the determination of the pH
values.
One gram each of the ground soil samples was weighed
into a 125 ml beaker and digested with a mixture of 4
ml, 25 ml and 2 ml each of concentrated HClO
4,
HNO
3
and H
2
SO
4
, respectively, on a hot plate in a fume
cupboard. At completion of digestion, the samples were
cooled and 50 ml of de ionized distilled water was
added and then the samples were filtered. The samples
were made up to 100 ml with de ionized distilled water
and concentrations of the elements determined using
atomic absorption spectrophotometer.
2.3 PLANTS
One portion of the leaves samples was left unwashed.
The other portion and some of the parts (stem, roots and
bulb) of the plants were thoroughly cleaned and washed
under a running tap water to remove dust, dirt and
possible parasite or their eggs
10
. The samples were
reduced to fine powder with a grinder prior to drying at
60
o
C in an oven to a constant weight. Half gram each of
the fine powdered samples was weighed into a flask and
digested in a mixture of 4 ml
,
25 ml, 2 ml and 1 ml of
concentrated HClO
4,
HNO
3,
H
2
SO
4
and 60 % H
2
O
2
,
respectively, at 100
o
C on a hot plate for two hours in a
fume cupboard. The resulting solution was left over
night and made up to 100 ml with de ionized distilled
water and concentrations of the elements determined.
2.4 WATER SAMPLES
One liter of the urban grey waste water used for
irrigating each farm was collected and treated with 1.5
ml of concentrated HNO
3
. 50 ml of the water sample
was transferred to an evaporating dish and evaporated on
a steam bath to about 20 ml. 10 ml of 8 M HNO
3
of 98
% purity was added and evaporated on a hot plate to near
dryness. The residue was quantitatively transferred using
two aliquot of 10 and 15 ml of concentrated HNO
3
into a
250 ml flask. 20 ml of HClO
4
was added and boiled until
the solution became clear and white fumes of HClO
4
appear. It was then cooled and de ionized distilled
water (about 50 ml) was added and the solution filtered.
The filtrate was quantitatively transferred to a 100 ml
volumetric flask with two portions of 5 ml of de
ionized distilled water. The solution was diluted to mark
and mixed thoroughly by shaking. The heavy metals
under study were determined as described above.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 LEVELS OF Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu AND Cr IN
URBAN GREY WASTE IRRIGATION WATERS
The concentrations of the heavy metal in the irrigation
waters from this study area are shown in Table.1.
Table 1: Mean concentration (g/ml) of Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr in water used for vegetables irrigation, Fagge,
Kano, Nigeria.
Irrigated farms Concentration of heavy metals in water used for
irrigation (g/ml)
Fe Mg Zn Mn Cu Cr
Okro/ Lettuce. Farm 12.12 36.8 3.33 3.41 0.25 14.06
Roselle. Farm 13.94 38.13 4.21 3.90 0.32 ND
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
Bushgreen farm 10.91 23.20 3.51 3.17 0.46 14.31
Onions farm 11.52 36.93 3.30 3.66 0.23 13.85
Carrot farm 9.70 31.73 3.16 3.41 0.44 12.31
Maximum recommended for irrigation
waters on all types of soils
5.0 - 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.1
ND = Not detected.
With the exception of Cr concentration in urban grey
waste water used for irrigating Roselle, the concentration
of Fe, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr in all the urban grey waste
waters used in irrigating other farms are above the
recommended maximum concentrations (5.0 g/ml, 2.0
g/ml, 0.2 g/ml, 0.2 g/ml, and 0.1 g/ml, for Fe, Zn,
Mn, Cu and Cr, respectively) for irrigation waters used
on all types of soil
4
. This implies that with continuous
irrigation with this water, there is a strong possibility of
the contamination of the soil and vegetables cultivated in
the study area.
The urban grey waste water used for irrigating Roselle
farm has higher concentration of Fe, Mg, Zn and Mn,
but lower concentrations of Cu and Cr than the
concentrations of the corresponding metals in urban grey
waste water used for irrigating Bushgreen farm as shown
in Table 1.The high concentration of these metals in the
urban grey waste waters is directly related to their
concentrations in Roselle and Bushgreen farm soils as
shown in Figures 1 to 6.
3.2 LEVELS OF HEAVY METALS IN SOILS
IRRIGATED WITH URBAN GREY WASTE
WATER.
The results of the spectrophotometric analyses on the
soil samples from different farms irrigated with the
untreated urban urban grey waste water in Kano
municipal are illustrated in Figures 1 to 6.
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30 Rec. level
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

i
r
o
n


(

g
/
g
)
Soil depth (cm),
Fig. 1. Variation of iron concentration with depth in different soils irrigated with sewage water (Kano site)
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30 Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

Z
n

(

g
/
g
)
.
Depth in cm.
Fig. 3. Variation of Zinc concentration with depth in different farm soils irrigated with sewage
water (Kano site)
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

m
a
g
n
e
s
i
u
m
(

g
/
g
)
Depth in (cm)
Fig. 2. Variation of Mg concentration with depth in different farm soils irrigated with
sewage water (Kano site)
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
Fig. 5. Variation of Copper concentration with depth infarm soils irrigated with sewage
water (Kano site)
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30 Rec. level
Soil depth (cm).
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

m
e
t
a
l
s

(

g
/
g
)
.
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30 Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

m
a
n
g
a
n
e
s
e

(

g
/
g
)
.
Depth in cm
Fig. 4. Variation of Manganese concentration with depth in different farmsoils irrigated
with sewage water (Kano site).
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0-5 5 - 10 10 - 15 15-20 20-25 25-30 Rec. level
c
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

c
h
r
o
m
i
u
m


(

g
/
g
)
Depth (cm)
Fig. 6. Variation of Chromium concentration with depthin different soils irrigated with
sewage water (Kano site)
Lettuce
Roselle
Onions
Carrot
Bushgreen
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
The following general observations are evident from
these results:
The concentrations of the heavy metals generally
showed a gradual decrease with increase in soil depth;
the highest concentrations were found in the surface
depth 0 5 cm. Similar observations were reported on a
study of the heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd) in soil
samples in Brestnik village in Bulgaria
7
.
Except for Fe and Mn, the concentrations of other heavy
metals (Zn, Cu and Cr) in all farm soils were higher than
the maximum permissible levels of these metals in farm
soils
11-12
.
The concentrations of Fe, Mg, Zn and Mn in Roselle
farm soils (Figures 1- 4) and Cu and Cr in Bushgreen
farm soils compared with other farm soils reflect the
relatively higher concentrations of these metals in the
urban grey waste water used for the irrigation of the
respective farm soils.
3.3 LEVELS OF HEAVY METALS IN DIFFERENT
PARTS OF PLANTS IRRIGATED WITH
UNTREATED URBAN URBAN GREY WASTE
WATER.
The variation of Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Cu and Cr concentrations
in different parts of the plants under study are illustrated in
Figures 7 to 12. The maximum tolerable levels of Cr, Cu,
Mn Zn and Fe in plants proposed by various countries are 5
30 g/g, 20 100 g/g, 300 500 g/g, 100 400 g/g
and 750 - 1000 g/g respectively, which are commonly
referred as critical concentrations in plants, above which
toxicity is likely to occur
1-2
.
The following general observations can be made from these
results:
In virtually all the vegetable plants, the concentrations of
heavy metals in all parts of the plant were higher than their
critical concentrations. For example:
The Zn and Cr in all parts of Bushgreen plant (leaves, stem
and roots) were respectively 6, 5, 8 times and 15, 10, 5 times
higher than their critical concentrations. The concentration of
Cu in the roots of Bushgreen plant was found to be 21 times
higher than its critical concentration.
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
Leaves
(unwashed)
Leaves
(washed)
Stem Roots Fruits Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

I
r
o
n

(

g
/
g
)
Fig. 7 Variation of mean concentrations of iron in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
Okro
Bushgreen
Lettuce
Onions
Roselle
Carrot
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
Leaves
(unwashed)
Leaves
(washed)
Stem
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

M
a
g
n
e
s
i
u
m

(

g
/
g
)
Fig. 8 Variation of mean concentrations of Magnesium in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
Stem Roots Fruits
Fig. 8 Variation of mean concentrations of Magnesium in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
Okro
Bushgreen
Lettuce
Onions
Roselle
Carrot
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Leaves
(unwashed)
Leaves
(washed)
Stem Roots Fruits Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

c
o
p
p
e
r

(

g
/
g
)
Fig. 11 Variation of mean concentrations of Copper in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
Okro
Bushgreen
Lettuce
Onions
Roselle
Carrot
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
Leaves
(unwashed)
Leaves
(washed)
Stem Roots Fruits Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

M
a
n
g
a
n
e
s
e

(

g
/
g
)
Fig 10 Variation of Mean concentrations of Manganese in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
Okro
Bushgreen
Lettuce
Onions
Roselle
Carrot
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
Rec. level = Recommended permissible level.
The concentrations of Zn and Mn in all parts of the Okro
plant are above their critical concentration (Figures 9 and
10). Specifically the concentrations of Cu and Cr in roots of
the Okro plant are 14 and 15 times respectively higher than
their critical concentration levels in plants.
The concentrations of Zn and Cr in lettuce plant are
respectively 1.6, 3.5, 3.5 and 10.3, 20.5, 5.1 times higher in
leaves, stem and roots than their corresponding critical
concentrations. Meanwhile the concentration of Cu in the
roots of Lettuce is 2 times higher while that of Mn in all
parts of lettuce are only slightly higher than their
corresponding critical concentrations in plants.
The concentration of Zn and Mn in Onion plants are
respectively 2.3, 2.5 and 2.9 times (Figure 9) and 1.3, 1.2,
1.4 times (Figure 10) higher in leaves, bulb and roots than
their corresponding critical concentrations in plants. In
addition the concentrations of Cu in leaves and roots of the
Onion plant were respectively 1.3 and 2.8 times higher than
its critical concentration in the plant.
These data obviously indicate potentially toxic levels of
these heavy metals: Zn, Cr, Cu and Mn in various
vegetable plants, Bushgreen, Okro, Lettuce and Onions
irrigated with urban grey waste water. The data are
particularly crucial to healthy use of the edible parts of
these plants. The high concentration of Cu in roots
compared to other parts of the plant may be attributed to
its low translocation within the plant compared to other
elements
4
. The high concentrations of Zn and Mn in the
leaves and also Cu and Cr in the roots of Okro plant are
in agreement with the observations made by other
researchers
8
who ranked the translocation of Mn, Zn, Cu
and Cr to the plant top in the order: Mn and Zn > Cu >
Cr. The concentration levels of Zn in Onion plant agrees
with the trend reported on the study of levels of Cr, Cu
and Zn in edible vegetables grown in Tarragon Province
Spain
9
.
The data from this study also show that Onion roots have
the ability to accumulate a relatively high concentration
of Fe, Zn, and Mn (Figures. 7, 9, 10 and 11). This
observation is substantiated by the work that showed
high concentration of heavy metals are established in
roots with small diameter (1mm) and that the
concentrations of these metals decrease significantly in
roots of larger diameter
7
.
For most of the vegetable plants, the concentrations of
the heavy metals (Figures. 7 - 12) were highest in the
leaves (unwanted) and roots compared with their
corresponding levels in leaves (washed) and stems. Okro
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Leaves
(unwashed)
Leaves
(washed)
Stem Roots Fruits Rec. level
C
o
n
c
e
n
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

o
f

C
h
r
o
m
i
u
m

(

g
/
g
)
Fig. 12 Variation of mean concentrations of Chromiun in parts of plants irrigated with
sewage water
Okro
Bushgreen
Lettuce
Onions
Carrot
International Journal of Scientific Research Engineering & Technology (IJSRET)
Volume 2 Issue 10 pp 627-636 January 2014 www.ijsret.org ISSN 2278 0882
IJSRET @ 2014
leaves (unwashed) have higher concentrations of Fe,
Mg, and Mn while Cu in Okro, Bushgreen, Lettuce,
Onions and Roselle plant tends to accumulate in the
roots; (Figures. 7, 8, 10 and 11). A maximum of 44% Fe
in Okro, 66.7% Cr in Bushgreen, ,18.6% Fe in lettuce,
80% Cu in Onions and 40% Cu in Carrots of their
respective leaves were removed by washing the leaves in
tap water. On the other hand, only a relatively minor
amount of Mn was removed by washing the leaves of
Okro, Lettuce, Onions and Roselle plants in the water
(Figure 10).
The high concentration of Mn and Fe in the leaves of Carrot,
Okro and Roselle plants compared to their high
concentration in the roots of other plants studied confirms
the observation that the extent of distribution of heavy
metals in different parts of the plants depends on the metal
concerned and the plants specie
2
. The observed low
percentage of Mn removed by washing lettuce, onions and
Roselle leaves in tap water compared with that of other
heavy metals reflects its deeper penetration into the leaves
system of the plants
2-3
.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions can be made from the results of
this study.
The concentrations of Fe, Zn, Cu and Cr in the urban grey
waste waters used for irrigating the different farm soils are
above the maximum levels of these metals recommended for
water used on all types of soil.
The concentrations of heavy metals in Lettuce, Roselle,
Onions, Carrot and Bushgreen farm soils irrigated with
urban grey waste water range from 84 24 percent
contamination levels depending on the depth of the soil (0
25 cm to 25 30 cm).
The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Cr in most parts
of the vegetable plants (leaves, stem, and roots) were above
the critical concentration levels in plants. This suggests
potential toxicity of these parts particularly the edible parts
of the plants.
A substantial amount of heavy metals in the leaves of the
vegetable plants can be removed easily by washing the
leaves under running tap water. Over 40% of the
concentrations of Fe, Mg, Zn and Cr in Onions, Fe in Okro,
Cr in Bushgreen, Cu in Roselle and Zn and Cu in Carrot
leaves can be removed by washing.
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