Soil Contamination with Heavy Metals around Jinja Steel Rolling Mills in Jinja Municipality, Uganda

Abstract

Background. Soil contamination with heavy metals has severely increased over the last few decades, mainly from industrial wastes and human activities. Soil pollution is a source of danger to the health of people globally. Objectives. To assess the level of soil contamination with heavy metals around steel rolling mills in Jinja municipality, Uganda. Methods. Four composite soil samples were collected from each of the sides of the Jinja steel rolling mills, dried and digested. The digested solution samples were analyzed in triplicates for the levels of lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and nickel (Ni), using a flame atomic absorption spectrometer (Savant AA model 2009); the analytical process was monitored using analytical standard solutions. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 19 and Excel. Mean metal concentrations, standard deviations, medians, and skewness were obtained to describe heavy metal concentrations...