Appraisal of Heavy Metal Contents in Commercial Inorganic Fertilizers Blended and Marketed in Nigeria

Abstract Human food chain toxicity has been shown to be influenced by application of inorganic fertilizers. Three samples of commercial inorganic fertilizers marketed in Nigeria were analysed for their heavy metal contents. The fertilizer samples used were N 15 P 15 K 15 (CF1), N 20 P 10 K 10 (CF2) and N 27 P 13 K 13 (CF3). Molybdenum (Mo) levels were the highest and Vanadium (V), Arsenic (As), Mercury (Hg) and Silver (Ag) were not detected by our analytical method. The concentrations of Mo in the CF1 (2, 570.0 mg/kg), CF2 (2,3000.0 mg/kg) and CF3 (1,340.0 mg/kg), were above the maximum acceptable concentration (20mg/kg) while CF1 (0.129 mg/ha/yr) and CF2 (0.115 mg/ha/yr) were above the maximum annual metal addition to soil (0.079 mg/ha/yr), as established by Canadian standard for fertilizers. Only CF1 (5.805 kg/ha) was above long-term cumulative assessment of metal addition to soil (3.57 kg/ha). Other heavy metals detected were Magnesium(Mg), Iron(Fe), Nickel(Ni), Zinc(Zn), Cadmium(Cd), Manganese(Mn), Cupper(Cu), Cobalt(Co), Lead(Pb), Chromium(Cr) and Boron(B). Cd and Pb mean concentrations of the fertilizer samples examined ranged from 2.84 to 11.32 mg/kg and 7.43 to 9.02 mg/kg respectively. Cd followed significantly (p<0.05) with phosphate percentage by weight of the inorganic fertilizers. Though the concentrations of these non-nutrient/toxic metals were below the recommended levels, it is important to encourage manufacturers to indicate their concentrations on the fertilizer labels in view of their health implications

Low serum ferritin and G6PD deficiency as potential predictors of anaemia in pregnant women visiting Prime Care Hospital Enugu Nigeria

Abstract Objectives Though iron deficiency is known to be a major risk factor of anaemia, the association of G6PD deficiency and malaria with anaemia still remains unclear. Hence, a cross-sectional study involving 95 pregnant women visiting Prime Care Hospital in Trans-Ekulu region of Enugu Nigeria was conducted to determine possible predictors of anaemia in pregnancy. Results The prevalence of anaemia, malaria and G6PD deficiency were 53.7, 12.6 and 60% respectively. Low serum ferritin (OR 5.500, CI 2.25–13.42, p < 0.05) and G6PD deficiency (OR 0.087, CI 0.03–0.23, p < 0.05) were associated with anaemia in pregnancy. On the other hand, malaria did not significantly associate (OR 1.184, CI 0.35–3.97, p = 0.964) with anaemia in pregnant women. These findings showed high prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women with low serum ferritin level and G6PD deficiency as high risk factors of anaemia