No abstract

Soil contamination by heavy metals is a worldwide environmental problem. Hence determining the chemical forms of a metal in soils is important to evaluate its mobility and bioavailability. This study determined the distribution and speciation of some heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in soils around some selected auto repair workshops in Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected with the aid of soil Augar within a depth of 0 -15 cm from the vicinity of the four selected auto repair workshops in Oghara, Delta State, Nigeria. The control samples were taken from a site free from auto repair and commercial activities. The soil samples were assessed for some physico-chemical properties, total heavy metal concentration, chemical speciation, mobility and some metal assessment indices of the heavy metals as a function of soil properties. The mean concentration of Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd in all the sites analyzed were 550. 54, 31.08, 36.15, 4.21 and 1.11 mg/kg respectively. Site B and the control had the highest and lowest total concentration of the five metals analyzed respectively. The levels of Cu were above the DPR target value in sites A and B, while the levels of Cd were above the target value in all the sites except in the control site. All the metals were found to be mostly concentrated in the residual fraction except Zn which was found mostly in the carbonate fraction. The mobility factors revealed that Zn is the most mobile element with an average mobility factor of 41.54% while Cd is the least mobile element with an average mobility factor of 16.51%. Contamination factors, index of geoaccumulation and pollution load index were also calculated. This study showed that mechanic workshop is one of the major sources of anthropogenic heavy metals concentration in the environment.

The effect of zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) on the physiology and uptake of heavy metals and nutrients in plants is crucial in the development of nanotechnology for the reclamation of contaminated soils. Zerovalent iron nanoparticles are able to immobilize heavy metals thereby reducing its bioavailability. Plant uptake experiment was thus used to evaluate the immobilizing potentials of starch stabilized zerovalent iron nanoparticles (S-nZVI) in the uptake of Pb by Celosia argentea grown on Pb-acid battery contaminated soil. Application of 1000 mg/kg of S-nZVI to the parent soil reduced bioavailable Pb in Celosia argentea (Quail grass). Celosia argentea grown on the starch stabilized zerovalent iron nanoparticles soil showed better tolerance to Pb than that grown on the parent soil. This was ascertained by the higher shoot and root biomass (dry weight matter). The concentration of iron was found to be higher in the shoots of Celosia argentea grown on the parent soil than for the treated soil. The higher translocation factor (TF) for iron in Celosia argentea (Quail grass) grown on the untreated soil might be one of the factors responsible for the observed trend. The TF for Pb was greater than one, an indication that Celosia argentea could be used in phytoremediation. The result from the pot experiment showed that S-nZVI significantly reduced phytoavavilable Pb.