Determination and Toxicological Effects of Some Heavy Metals in Surface Water from the Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

The Niger Delta is the hub of industrial establishments in Nigeria. With the concentration of industries in this part of the country, it is believed by many that the environment may have been impactedwith heavy metals as a result of wastes generated by these industries. This study was necessitated by the desire to find out the current levels and toxic effects of some of the metals in surface water from the Niger Delta. To actually verify this claim, surface water sample were collected from ten locations for a period of eight months. The surface water collected were first acid treated with 2ml concentrated nitric acid (assaying 100%) and taken to the laboratory where the concentrations of the various metals were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results of the analysis were as follows: Cd (0.003Mg/l), Cr (0.172Mg/l), Pb (0.057Mg/l), Fe (0.403Mg/l), Zn (0.218Mg/l), Ni (0.816Mg/l),Mn (0.725Mg/l) and Cu (0.011Mg/l). From these results, it was seen that the concentrations of the metals were within the national and international recommended limits; however some of these metals are known to be toxic even at low concentrations. It was also observed from the results that the concentrations of the metals in the dry season were higher than those of the wet season.