Assessment of Cr, Cd and Pb levels in tobacco leaves and selected cigarette samples from Ilorin Metropolis Kwara State, Nigeria

The levels of Cr, Cd and Pb in tobacco leaves and some cigarette samples from Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria were collected and analyzed after wet digestion with a freshly prepared 65% HNO3 and 35% HCl using atomic absorption spectrophotometry Model No PM 8251 single pen recorder. The results obtained reveal the presence of Cr and Cd in all samples including tobacco leaves. However, Pb was not found in all the samples within the limit of determination. The concentration ranges of Cr and Cd in the samples are 60-100 μg/g and 4-20 μg/g respectively, which was found to be lower than the WHO standard.Keywords: Cigarettes, Tobacco, Heavy metals, Digestio

Assessment of some heavy metals concentrations in soil and groundwater around refuse dumpsite in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria

This study reports the determination of some heavy metals’ concentration in soil and groundwater around refuse dumpsites in five locations in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. Five samples were collected from each soil and ground water locations and analysed for heavy metals(Cd, Co, Pb, Cr, Zn, Mn and Ni)using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The soil samples were obtained in triplicates at 25cm depth intervals whereas the water samples were obtained from hand dug wells less than 10 m deep. The range of the values of heavy metal concentrations obtained in water is Co (0.01-0.04), Pb (0.01-0.02), Cr (0.02-0.05), Zn (0.40-0.70), Mn (0.02-0.05) and Ni (0.02-0.05), but Cadmium was not detected. The concentrations of Pb and Ni in ground water obtained from Arapaja, Aleshinloye and Alafara were higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) limits. The results obtained showed that the concentrations of Cd, Co, Pb, Ni and Cr in soil exceeded the WHO and SON permissible limits. However, Zn and Mn were below the limit. Keywords: Heavy metals, Dumpsite, Groundwater, Soil samples, Concentrations