VARIATIONS IN ELEMENTAL AND RADIOMETRIC CONCENTRATIONS OF SOILS AROUND A MINING SITE IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Authors

  • Felix S. Olise Physics and Engineering Physics Department, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
  • Olayinka O. Ajayi Physics and Engineering Physics Department, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
  • Godwin Ezeh Centre for Energy Research and Development Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife
  • Oyediran K Owoade Physics and Engineering Physics Department, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2281-4485/10260

Keywords:

Elemental, Pollution, Radiometric, Soil, Toxicity

Abstract

Soil samples from a mine site in Ijero, Ekiti State South-west Nigeria, were investigated for their elemental and radionuclides (40K, 232Th and 238U) concentrations to assess the contaminations levels. Twenty (20) soil samples were randomly collected using Dutch stainless steel Auger around the mine sites but largely dictated by the miners activities and locations. Elemental and radioactivity (40K, 232Th and 238U) components  of the soils were determined using particle induced X-ray emission and Gamma spectrometers respectively.  To assess the level of contamination and the possible anthropogenic impact, the pollution indices and the geo-accumulation indices of some elements were calculated. Twenty-six elemental (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Zr, Nb, Cd, Sn, Ba, Nd, Bi, Pb, Pa, Th and U) concentrations were quantified. Average concentrations of these toxic elements; V (327 μg g-1), Cu (276 μg g-1), Nb (806 μg g-1), Cd (785 μg g-1), Pb (394 μg g-1), Th (473 μg g-1) and U (500 μg g-1) were particularly high, exceeding recommended values. Activity concentrations of the radionuclides ranged from 1 to 3, 4 to 10 and 415 to 15520 kBq kg-1 for 232Th, 238U, and 40K respectively with an average exceeding world limit which could lead to possible radiological consequences. Geo-accumulation and the pollution risk factor studies revealed that Pb could pose significant potential health risk to the miners and ecosystem.

References

References

AJAYI I.R. (2002) Radiological dose implications of the natural radioactivity in surface soils in Ekiti state, Nigeria. Pure and Applied Science 8(3):357–360.

BRAI M., BELLI S., HAUSER S., PUCCIO P., RIZZO S., BASILE S. and MARRALE M. (2006) Correlation of radioactivity measurements, air kerma rates and geological features of Sicily. Radiation Measurement 41:461–470.

CAMPBELL J.L., BOYD N.I., GRASSI N., BONNICK P. AND MAXWELL J.A. (2010) The Guelph PIXE software package IV. Nucl Instr Meth Phys Res B 268:3356–3363.

FAWEYA E.B. AND ONIYA E.O. (2012) Radiological safety assessment and physico-chemical characterization of soil mixed with mine tailings used as

building materials from Oke-Kusa mining sites in Ijero, Nigeria. Nature and Science 10(5):64–71.

HAKANSON L. (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control, a sedimentological approach. Water Resources 14(8):975 – 1001.

KABATA-PENDIAS A AND PENDIAS H. (1992) Trace elements in soils and plants. 2nd ed., CRC Press, Boca Raton, 365.

KEITH S., FAROON O., RONEY N., SCINICARIELLO F., WILBUR S., INGERMAN L., LLADOS F., PLEWAK D., WOHLERS D. AND DIAMOND G. (2013) Toxicological profile for Uranium. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (US), Atlanta, GA, Bookshelf ID: NBK158809.

LEUNG K.C., LAU S.Y., AND POON C.B. (1990) Gamma radiation dose from radionuclides in Hong Kong soils. Environmemtal Radioactivity 11:279–290.

MILLER B., LIND A., SAVAGE D., MAUL P. AND ROBINSON P. (2002) Natural elemental concentrations and fluxes: their use as indicators of repository safety, Statens Kärnkraftinspektion (SKI) report 02:3 and

Statens Strålskyddinstitut (SSI) Report:02, Sweden.

MIRZA T.A. AND ISMAIL S.A. (2007) Origin of Plagiogranites in the Mawat Ophidite complex, Kurdistan region Iraq. Kirkuk University Scientific Studies 2(1):1–20.

OLADIPO G.O., OLAYINKA A., AND AWOTOYE O.O. (2014) Ecological impact of mining on soils of southwestern Nigeria. Environment and Experimental Biology 12:179–186.

Downloads

Published

2020-03-19

How to Cite

Olise, F. S., Ajayi, O. O., Ezeh, G., & Owoade, O. K. (2020). VARIATIONS IN ELEMENTAL AND RADIOMETRIC CONCENTRATIONS OF SOILS AROUND A MINING SITE IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA. EQA - International Journal of Environmental Quality, 39(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2281-4485/10260

Issue

Section

Articles