MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY STUDIES OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN SOILS AROUND METAL-SMELTING PLANTS IN SOME PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

PreviousNext No AccessSymposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2019MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY STUDIES OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN SOILS AROUND METAL-SMELTING PLANTS IN SOME PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIAAuthors: Pauline T. AleMichael A. OladunjoyePauline T. AleUniversity of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaSearch for more papers by this author and Michael A. OladunjoyeUniversity of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaSearch for more papers by this authorhttps://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.32-068 SectionsAboutPDF/ePub ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Abstract Industrial activities such as metal recycling and mining contribute significantly to heavy metal pollution in soils. In metal recycling and smelting plants, scraps stockpile and discharge of effluents from production which are common practices and these contribute significantly to heavy metal pollution in soil. Expensive and time-consuming geochemical methods are commonly used to assess such soil metal pollution, however simple and fast magnetic method was recently used as a proxy assessment. The investigation was aimed at determining heavy metals concentration and possibly, assess soil pollution around metal smelting industries in Ogijo and Ota, southwestern Nigeria by using the magnetic susceptibility method. Soil samples were collected at 0 cm, 10 cm, 20 cm and 30 cm depths from 105 and 32 locations in Ogijo and Ota respectively; with a total of 2100 and 640 samples collected from the two industrial layouts. The soils were dried, crushed and divided into two; one part was packaged as whole sample, and the other part was sieved into four grain sizes of 180 μm, 125 μm, 90 μm and 65 μm. Each sample was subjected to magnetic susceptibility analysis using the Bartington MS2B sensor, first in the high frequency and then in the low frequency modes. From the magnetic susceptibility readings obtained, thirteen samples with high, medium and low magnetic readings were selected from both locations and subjected to temperature analysis to determine the class of the magnetic elements. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The magnetic susceptibility readings showed that 44.0% and 55.0% of the locations in Ogijo and Ota decreased in values with depth. Soil with 65 μm particles were the most contaminated with about 75% of the heavy metal pollutants found in this grain size. Results obtained from both the high and low magnetic frequencies readings in both sites classified about 80% of the pollutants as Super-paramagnetic. This result was also similar to that obtained from the temperature analysis whose plots indicated that the samples are super-paramagnetic in nature. Heavy metals pollution was confirmed in soil samples from Ogijo and Ota environments. Keywords: production, magneticPermalink: https://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.32-068FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems 2019ISSN (online):1554-8015Copyright: 2019 Pages: 425 publication data© 2019 Published in electronic format with permission by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and Environment and Engineering Geophysical SocietyPublisher:Environmental & Engineering Geophysical Society HistoryPublished Online: 27 May 2019 CITATION INFORMATION Pauline T. Ale and Michael A. Oladunjoye, (2019), "MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY STUDIES OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION IN SOILS AROUND METAL-SMELTING PLANTS IN SOME PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA," Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems Proceedings : 308-314. https://doi.org/10.4133/sageep.32-068 Plain-Language Summary KeywordsproductionmagneticPDF DownloadLoading ...