Determination of Radiation Exposure and Heavy Metals Concentration in Agricultural Research Farm Federal Polytechnic Ile-Oluji and Environs

Abstract

Exposure level of radiation and heavy metal concentration were examined in Agricultural research farm, Federal Polytechnic Ile-Oluji and environs using a gamma scout survey meter and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy respectively. The exposure level was determined by placing a survey meter 1 m above the soil level in each sampling point. The mean value of exposure level was 0.5113 µSv hr-1which was higher than the recommended limit of 0.11µSv hr-1 [1]. For the heavy metal values, there is a general increase in the concentration from Zn metal to Pb in the order Zn>Fe>Cu>Cr>Cd>As>Pb. The highest concentration of heavy metals was recorded for Zn while Pb metal has the lowest heavy metal concentration for the soil samples. In the plant samples however, the trend of heavy metals is as Cu>Zn>Fe>Cr>Cd>As>Pb. The highest concentration of the metals is recorded for Cu metal while Pb has the lowest value.Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Zn and Fe were all above permissible levels in plant materials while only Pb and As have lower values than the safety limit.The transfer factor from soil to plant is greater than 0.5 in some of the areas indicating a high risk through the food chain to man. Similarly, most of the metals have transfer factors greater than 0.2 which is also an indication of contamination of the Cassava plant in the study area.