Automated Teller Machines (ATM) are visited everyday by millions of people. This machine is accessible to the general public irrespective of class, age or race. The contact point of all ATM machines is the hand which on their own are ‘vaults’ of microorganisms. An elaborate survey was taken for complete assessment of possible microbial contamination in the Federal Polytechnic Ede campus. Selected ATM machines on campus were used as case study to characterize, identify and determine the degree of bacterial contamination of microorganisms and their potential as reservoir of microbes. Swabs were collected from each ATM screen, buttons, floor, user’s hand, and exposure of plates. After collection of the samples, they were plated in nutrient agar. The results showed the presence of increased bacterial count subsequently, most pathogens on characterization revealed the genus of the particular organisms E. coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Salmonella and Serratia. The study showed the potential hazard inherent in ATM machine usage and draws attention to our level of hand hygiene compliance.

This study was done to determine the level of iron in selected indigenous vegetables (grown in Ede, Osun State, Nigeria) using colorimetric method. The six indigenous and  three common ones selected for the study are; Basella alba (Amunututu), Ocimum gratissium (Efirin), Talinum fruticosum (Gbure), Amaranthus hybridus (Tete adayeba), Amaranthus hybridus (Tete olowojeja), Corchorus olitorius (Ewedu), Telfairia occidentalis (Ugwu), Celosia argentea (Soko) and finally Amaranthus hybridus (Tete). The vegetables were ashed and iron content of the vegetables was determined colorimetrically at 470 nm. The results showed that, amongst the indigenous vegetables the iron concentration ranged from 0.094 to 0.66 ppm with Amaranthus hybridus (Tete adayeba) and the Basella alba (Amunututu) recording the highest and lowest levels respectively. The common vegetables had iron levels ranging from 0.0304 to 0.703 ppm with Amaranthus hybridus (Tete) recording the lowest level and Telfairia occidentalis (Ugwu) recording the highest level respectively. The findings showed that the sampled indigenous vegetables are a good source of iron in diet.