Determination of Heavy Metals and Physicochemical Parameters of Crude Oil Polluted Soil from Ohaji Egbema Local Government in Imo State

Abstract

The soil physicochemical parameter in Ohaji in Imo State, Nigeria was investigated using Ibeocha, Ekeugba, Awara, Mbirichi and Location as a case study. The result obtained from the soil analysis using standard methods shows that the concentrations of the heavy metals, Pb and Fe were highest in the soil from Ibeocha (0.045 ppm) and Mbirichi (0.126 ppm) which show high rate of industrial activity and oil spill in those areas. There was no remarkable change in pH, but temperature followed the pattern of heavy metal concentration with acidic (lowest) values at the centre. The cation exchange capacity of the soil sample from location (14.066 ppm) shows that this soil sample has a lower contamination to compare to other soil samples from other location. Containment of the effects should be encouraged as soil from these sampling locations is contaminated due to oil spill.

Physicochemical Properties, Total Concentration, Geochemical Fractions, and Health Risks of Trace Metals in Oil-Bearing Soils of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

“…The pH of the oil-bearing soils was more acidic and lower than the pH of the control soil (Table 3). This agrees with the result obtained by Chukwuemeka et al (2017) as well as Nwaogu and Onyeze (2010) in oil-impacted soils. The acidic nature of the oil-impacted soils could alter the normal metabolic activities in the soil and make toxic metals readily available (Li et al, 2022;Olaniran et al, 2013).…”

“…The range and mean value of organic matter (OM) contents of the oil-bearing soils are 5.78 -7.56% and 6.33±0.70%, respectively. This range is higher than 4.14 -4.63% reported by Chukwuemeka et al (2017) within the oil-bearing soils. The OM contents of the studied soils were high above those of the background soil (control) (Table 3).…”