Metals Transfer from Soil to Plants and Water across Nasarawa Town, Nasarawa Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, Nigeria

*U. Rilwan1, J. Waida2 M. Musa3, Andrew Adamu1 and S. I. Ikpughul1

1*Department of Physics, Nigerian Army University, Biu, Borno State, Nigeria
2Department of Physics, Borno State University, Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria
3Department of Physics, Modibbo Adama University, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

*Corresponding author: rilwan.usman@naub.edu.ng, doi.org/10.55639/607.4454


ABSTRACT

In Nasarawa, mining has been going on for the last 50 years, and the vegetables we ate have trapped metals. This research aims to show how much of these metals are transferred from soil to water and different kinds of food crops in Nasarawa. The findings showed that, at all places, the Transfer Factor for various trace elements in soil-water dropped in the following order: Zn (0.76) > Pb (0.75) > Fe (0.66) > Mn (0.59) > Cu (0.51) > Ni (0.49). The overall Transfer Factor (soil-edible plants) for several trace elements is in the following order: Pb (0.60) > Zn (0.54) > Zn (0.49) > Ni (0.39) > Cu (0.38) > Mn (0.22). Because of this, the nearby flora and water are regarded as safe for use in food by the general public, even though the transfer coefficients of a trace element in the majority of the heavy metals (Zn, Fe, Cu, and Pb) are greater than 0.50, which suggests that there may be a higher likelihood that anthropogenic activities have contaminated the plant or water. Additionally, heavy metal levels in the environment must be regularly checked to prevent rapid accumulation over time.

Keywords:

Heavy metal,
Toxicity,
Soil-plant,
Soil-water
Transfer factor