HEALTH AND RISK ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METALS IN SOIL AND PLANTS AROUND A DUMP SITE

Solid wastes constitute a disaster for human health and environmental degradation. Dumpsites in urban settlements are used as sources of nutrient rich soils for cultivating crops without regard to the risks of perceived toxic heavy metal pollution from the wastes. Water sources near the dumpsites are used as domestic water source for the people living near such sites. This water is often contaminated by toxic heavy metals leaching from the dumpsite. Heavy metals are known to accumulate in the plants then passed to the humans through the food chain. Prolonged consumption of unsafe concentrations of heavy metals through foodstuffs may lead to the accumulation of heavy metals in the humans causing disruption of numerous biochemical processes. The aim of this study was to determine the level of heavy metals in the vegetables and soil samples collected around Oluku dumpsite. The study also sought to assess the knowledge of the health risks posed by the site to the residents living around the dumpsite. Heavy metal determination samples collected was carried out using X- ray fluorescence (XRF) analytical method.
The results indicate that the dumpsite didn’t shown to be having high concentrations of heavy metals, since some heavy metals could not be detected in dumpsite. This may be as a result of less contamination with those metals due to human activities. Some metals could not be detected; the implication is that the concentration of these metals are below detection limit or not present at all. It was also observed that the dumpsite had higher concentration of these metals like magnesium (Mg) than others; this could be attributed to the presence of waste carrying higher amounts of magnesium. The heavy metals concentration in these dumpsites were all within the WHO acceptable limit in the dumpsite.