Assessment of potentially harmful elements in mine spoils of Jos and environs, central Nigeria
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: One of the main human activities that has greatly deteriorated the environment and people's health is mining. This study aimed to determine the level of potential harmful element contamination in mine spoils collected from Jos, Central Nigeria. Forty-five samples were collected, air-dried, pulverized, and sieved to collect fine particles and analyzed for As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Th, U, V, and Zn using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The average concentrations of the potentially harmful elements in the spoils were; As: 5.70 ppm; Ba: 97.31 ppm; Be: 3.02 ppm; Co: 7.48 ppm; Cr: 124.64 ppm; Cu: 19.16 ppm; Mo: 6.19 ppm; Mn: 165 ppm; Ni: 28.84 ppm; Pb: 38.72 ppm; Sb: 0.51 ppm; Th: 36.17 ppm; U: 10.94 ppm; V: 119.84; Zn: 19.15 ppm. Pollution indices such as contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI) and index of geo-accumulation (Igeo) were used to determine the level of contamination in the samples. The CF values show that the soils are considerably contaminated with As, Ba, Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, V, and Zn while it is highly contaminated with Th and U. Conversely, the PLI of 0.439 shows that the site is unpolluted. Based on the index of geo-accumulation, the mine spoils are moderately- uncontaminated with As, Ba, Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Th, U, V, and Zn. Most of these elements are sourced from natural or geogenic sources, and some are remobilized from mining activities.
Source: African Scientific Reports
Authors: Sunday Sani Daku, Victor Diyelmak, Ernest Okafor
Institution: University of Jos
Language: English
Topic: Heavy metals in environment
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Tertiary Education Trust Fund
OpenAlex ID: W4417130374