Heavy Metal Contamination and Risk Assessments from Varying Agricultural Sites
摘要
Heavy metal contaminants in agricultural environments have received global attention due to their persistent effects on ecosystems. In this study, contamination levels as well as carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks of 10 heavy metals on humans from 10 agricultural farm settlements in Odo-Oba, SW Nigeria, were assessed. The inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method was used to obtain the heavy metal constituents (HMC) of Cu, Pb, Cr, As, Zn, Cd, Ni, Sb, Co, and V at topsoils (approximately 25 cm depth) of the farms. The decreasing trend of the HMC is in the order of Cr > V > Zn > Pb > Ni > Co > Cu > As > Sb > Cd. The range of the HMC obtained indicated that Cr and V surpassed the approved limits of 100 mg kg−1 each, while the maximum range of Co should be under check as it is nearly close to the threshold limit of 20 mg kg−1. The pathway for contamination for adults and children in the study sites is of the order inhalation < ingestion < dermal. The non-carcinogenic health hazards for adults and children are 2.37 × 10−1 and 1.57 × 100, indicating a threat for children via dermal pathway (since the non-carcinogenic hazards>1). The carcinogenic health indices are 4.58 × 10−4 for adults and 3.12 × 10−3 for children, indicating a threat to all ages (since the carcinogenic indices > 10−4) as prescribed by USEPA.