Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Soil of Selected Primary Schools in Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT The study assessed the Heavy Metal Contamination In Soil Of Selected Primary Schools In Umuahia North Local Government Area, Abia State, Nigeria. Samples were collected with stainless steel sampling tools and plastic buckets to avoid contaminating the samples with chemical elements (micronutrients) from the sampling tools. The samples were taken at a depth of about 20 cm depth. All the data obtained were subjected to descriptive analysis, (measure of central tendency and dispersion) to characterize the samples.The comparison of each study area was carried out to test for significant differences in the chemical conditions using parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA). If significant value were obtained in the ANOVA, Duncan multiple range (DMR) test was performed to determine the location of significant difference. All data analyses including were done using SPSS 25.00 version and Microsoft excel (2016) windows application. The mean iron content in the soils of the sampled schools were observed to be 327.79 Mg/kg, 175.85 Mg/kg and 426.26 Mg/kg in MOUAU Primary school, Olokoro Primary school and Amuzuku primary school respectively. The mean Zinc content in the soils sampled schools was observed to be highest in Amuzuku primary school (88.011mg/kg) and lowest in MOUAU primary school (53.94mg.kg). The iron content in Amuzuku primary school significantly (PZnCu>Cr>Cd> Ar hence indictaing varying levels of the assessed heavy metals. The correlation results further showed that Fe, Cd and Pb may have originated from common sources, such as similar commercial activities as well as contribution from auto-exhaust as they showed significant and positive correlations among each other. Based on these findings, it is recommended that there should be Establishment of a routine monitoring program for soil heavy metal concentrations at all primary schools in the area. This will help detect any increases in metal levels and prevent potential health risks to students and staff