Distribution of Heavy Metals and Natural Radionuclides in Selected Mechanized Agricultural Farmlands Within Ekiti State, Nigeria

• Published in: Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 1483 - 1490
• Main Author: Isinkaye, Matthew Omoniyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01-07-2012
• Subjects: Engineering; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Research Article - Physics; Science; Agricultural farmlands; Dose rates; Natural radioactivity; Heavy metals; Pearson correlation coefficient
• ISSN: 1319-8025; 2191-4281
• DOI: 10.1007/s13369-012-0245-y

Topsoil samples collected from five mechanized agricultural land were analyzed for their heavy metal and natural radionuclide constituents using atomic absorption (AAS) and
γ
-ray spectrometric methods, respectively. The results of the atomic absorption spectrometric analysis show that Pb and Zn have low concentrations, while Ca, As and Cu have enhanced level of concentrations in all the farmlands.
γ
-ray spectrometric analysis indicates that
40
K concentrations are higher than the world average value for soil, while
226
Ra and
232
Th are lower than their corresponding world average values. Pearson correlation coefficients were determined among heavy metals and natural radionuclides concentrations. The dose rates at 1 m above the ground level and the corresponding biological effective dose rates were estimated. The values obtained were compared with values from other locations around the world. The ranges and mean values of all the radiation hazard parameters considered in this study do not show any significant departure from the values obtained for areas with normal background levels around the world.