PAPER TITLE :EFFECTS OF TRAFFIC DENSITY ON HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF SOIL AND VEGETATION ALONG ROADSIDES LEADING TO AKURE-ONDO STATE. NIGERIA

FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE | VOLUME 10 NUMBER 1 2014

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : O. O. Obaseki*, I. A. Amoo, A. F. Ayesanmi and A. E. Okoronkwo
  • Abstract:
The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni ,Mn Pb, Cd, and V were determined in the plant species Chromolaena odorata and soil samples along four heavy traffic density (HTD) roads with average daily traffic density (ATD) of 5,364 vehicles and one low traffic density (LTD) road of 1,358 vehicles per day in the metropolitan city of Akure Ondo State, Nigeria. Soil and plant samples were collected at distances of 5m, 50m and 100m from the road. Metal concentrations in plant samples were determined by UNICAM SOLA R32 Datta station V7. AAS model ,while metal level in soil samples were quantized using Inductively Coupled Plasma – Emmission Spectrometry (ICPAES) and Graphite Furnace Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (GFAAS). The mean concentrations followed the order Zn > Pb > V > Ni > Cd for soil samples and Mn > Zn > Cu > Ni > Cd > Cr for plant samples respectively. The result of analysis showed that metal concentration decreased with increasing distances away from the edge of the road. The concentrations of these metals along the LTD were significantly lower than for the HTD. Further more metal concentrations in soil and plant samples were related positively to traffic densities, with soil and vegetation along the HTD having significantly higher (p>0.05) level of the investigated metals than those along the LTD road. Keywords: Heavy metals, Low traffic density, High traffic density, Roadside soil, Plant samples.