Okereke Chioma Joy
University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Title: Accumulation And Risk Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Public Primary School Playgrounds In Ahoada-West Local Government Area, Rivers State Nigeria
Biography
Biography: Okereke Chioma Joy
Abstract
Children are more susceptible and vulnerable to the adverse health effects of heavy metal pollution due to their small body size, developing nervous system, high absorption rate and behavioral pattern present during childhood. This study was carried out to assess potential health risk of the exposure of school children in Ahoada West Local Government Area in Rivers state, to heavy metal contamination in playground soil. To assess the extent of heavy metal pollution in playground soil, ten soil samples were collected from ten different primary schools and evaluated for heavy metals using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Results of the study showed that the heavy metals concentration (mg/kg) ranged from 0.01-0.04, 9.08-13.30, 18.00-24.15, 0.12-0.97 and <0.01 for Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd respectively. Daily dose intakes through oral ingestion of contaminated soil were calculated using United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) model for non-carcinogenic risk assessment. The results ranged from 1.30 x 10-5 – 6.90 x 10-5, 3.00 x 10-4 – 4.40 x 10-4, 5.90 x 10-4 – 8.00 x 10-4, 1.50 x 10-5 – 4.00 x 10-5, and 0.00- (mg/kg/day) for Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd respectively. The results for the non-carcinogenic hazard quotient ranged from 1.30 x 10-6 – 2.30 x 10-6, 7.50 x 10-3 – 1.00 x 10-2, 3.00 x 10-4 – 4.00 x 10-3, 1.3 x 10-6 – 3.0 x 10-2 and 0.00 for Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd respectively. The results suggested that there were no significant heavy metal health risk for the children as the hazard quotient were all below 1.0 in the ten primary schools.