Analysis of Soil Heavy Metal Pollution in Automobile Workshops in Nnewi North, Anambra State
2025
Onuchukwu, C.B | Igboanugo, I.R
Heavy metal contamination from activities in automobile workshops is of public health concern. These heavy metals can remain in the environment over time. This study examined the concentration of soil heavy metal pollution in automobile workshops. To achieve the main objective, purposive sampling was adopted and 8 sites were identified of which 5 out of eight automobile workshops were selected and another sampling site which has no influence of automobile workshop activities was selected as the control. Soil samples from these areas were collected at a depth of 0-15cm using a locally fabricated stainless soil auger and a control sample was also collected for result comparison. The contamination level of the soil was calculated using the geo-accumulation index, the 5-sample site for Cd ranged from 1.6 - 73.93 mg kg-1,0.84 mg kg-1- 6.39 mg kg- 1 Cu, 0.06 – 5.28 mg kg- 1Pb, 1.16 – 1.99 mg kg-1 Zn, 0.4 – 2.13 mg kg-1 As, 1.56 – 3.03 mg kg-1Hg. Samples 1,2,3,4,5 indicated a non-contamination level for Ni while Zn and As values for sampled site 1, 2, 3 and 4 ranging from 0.4 -2.13 mg kg1indicate an uncontaminated to moderately contaminated level. One-tailed ANOVA was employed to test the statistical difference in the concentration of heavy metals in the sampled sites. The result from the statistics showed a p-value of 0.002 which is <0.05. This suggests that the different sampled sites contribute differently to the concentration of heavy metals. There is a need for strict enforcement of safe waste-handling methods to reduce soil contamination around automobile workshops.
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