Assessment of Trace Metals in Imported Cosmetics marketed in Nigeria

This work is aimed at investigating the levels of some trace metals in make-up items mainly imported into Nigeria. Ten different make-up items were analyzed for seven trace metals. Atomic adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) was used to quantify the presence of these heavy metals. The trace metals analyzed included Zn, Cr, Co, Cd, Mn, Pb, and Ni. The concentration of Zn (0.6866 mg/Kg) was found to be the highest in sample I followed by Mn with (0. 5485 mg/Kg) while Cr in sample C and F, and Cd in sample A where below detectable limit.  These heavy metals were found to be within safe limits of Health Canada, The Japanese Standards of Cosmetic Ingredients (JSCI), FDA and The European Cosmetics Directive for healthy cosmetics free of trace metals toxicity. Keywords: Trace metals, Imported, Nigeria, AAS, limit, and FDA

Assessment of Water Quality Index of Borehole and Well Water in Wukari Town, Taraba State, Nigeria

Water samples collected from boreholes and hand dug wells located in two wards in Wukari town were assessedfor some physico-chemical parameters on collection and after one week of storage using standard analyticalmethods. Furthermore the quality indices were determined for the water samples on collection and after oneweek of storage. The parameters determined include temperature, turbidity, suspended solids, total dissolvedsolids, conductivity, pH, nitrate –nitrogen, phosphates, chlorides, alkalinity, COD and DO. The result showedthat some parameters like turbidity, conductivity and suspended solids exhibited a marked drop in valuefollowing their storage for one week in both borehole and hand dug well water samples. Mean values ofparameters like nitrate-nitrogen, phosphates and chlorides did not exhibit marked drop in concentration values inboth water sources. Turbidity and suspended solid values in the well water samples was more than that ofborehole waters however the mean conductivity values in borehole water is more than in well water. Water fromboth sources was found to exhibit hardness on collection and after one week of storage. The quality indices inborehole and well water on collection were found to be 26 and 136 respectively. After one week of storage thequality indices were determined and the values were found to be 15 and 89 respectively indicating improvementin the water quality after storage for one week. Borehole water in Wukari was found to possess better quality fordrinking than well water. The study provides baseline information on the quality of borehole and hand dug wellwaters in Wukari Town. In addition, the hardness of the water sources may be an indication of the presence ofunderlying minerals in the ground.Keywords: Borehole, hand dug well, storage,water quality inde

Compositional Evaluation of Local Smoked Nigerian Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

Effects of different energy sources using sawdust, melon husk, rice bran and electric oven (control) were investigated on the chemical composition of local fresh mackerel (Scomber scombrus). For this purpose, proximate, mineral and amino acid compositions of the smoked fish were determined using standard analytical technique. The results showed the range of crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, ash, moisture and carbohydrate contents (%) as; 57.80 – 70.20, 7.41 – 17.51, 8.48 – 11.25, 4.20 – 5.70, 3.33 – 5.28 and 0.79 – 3.42, respectively. Sodium was found to be more abundant in all the samples (7.10 – 12.25 mg/100g) compared with potassium (4.40 – 9.90 mg/100g) and magnesium (5.05 – 9.70 mg/100g) while phosphorus was the highest concentrated mineral (12.90 mg/100g) recorded in fish sample smoked with melon husk heat source. Harmful heavy metals such as lead and cadmium were not at the detectable range of atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The amino acid revealed that only Scomber scombrus fish sample smoked with melon husk enhanced the contents of total amino acid (TAA) and total essential amino acid (TEAA) by 1.05 and 1.20%, respectively while sawdust and rice bran heat treatments reduced TAA and TEAA. The essential aromatic amino acids (EArAA) and total sulphur amino acids (TSAA) contents were increased in all the samples smoked with different heat sources. Predicted protein efficiency ratio ranged between 2.21 and 2.61. The first limiting amino acid (LAA) for all the smoked samples was Ile except sample smoked with rice bran which has Val as LAA. Although the results of smoked fish samples showed deviations in nutrients from the results of sample dried with electric oven but over 80% of the mineral and more than 85% of the protein were still retained in smoked fish. Keywords: Agricultural wastes, Heat sources, Scomber scombrus, Chemical composition

Determination of the level of some elements in edible oils sold in Zaria, northern Nigeria.

The human body uses oils and fats in the diet as an energy source, as a structural component and to make powerful biological regulators. The significance of trace metals and toxicological effects of heavy metals on human health and nutrition have been increasingly studied in recent years. Micronutrients play a role in cellular defences, acting both as ‘sinks’ for free radicals or by being involved in the activity of the enzymes required to deal with the oxidative products e.g. zinc and copper in superoxide dismutase. Presence of metals in edible oil could be from soil or during the manufacturing process. In this present study, the levels of some metals were determined in vegetable oils sold in Zaria, Nigeria. The concentration ranged from 19.10-110.6, 0.34-2.77, 0.01-0.34, 0.05-0.84, 0.02-0.25, 0.01- 0.08, 0.14-0.91, 0.34-0.97 mg/kg for sodium, cadmium, lead, chromium, aluminium, copper, manganese and nikel.KEY WORDS: oil, metals, human bod

EDXRF analysis of tantalite deposit of Mai-Kabanji, North-western Nigeria

The tantalite deposits of Mai-Kabanji area of Zamfara State Nigeria was studied for the elemental compositions by Energy dispersive x-ray fluoresce (EDXRF) spectrophotometry, physical properties and anionic composition by standard methods. The results indicated high concentrations of tantalum oxide, Ta 2 O 5 (31.990%±0.83) and other valuable oxides of niobium, Nb 2 O 5 (0.029%), titanium, TiO 2 (1.702%±0.42) and iron, Fe 2 O 3 (1.702%±0.30) were also high. Physical properties tested showed high resistance on ignition (LOI 3.00%) and low alkalinity (8.51), grey colour, specific gravity range (7.2 -8.0) and an average size of 0.12 mm. Sample was generally richer in tantalum oxide and other valuable mineral oxides of niobium, titanium, iron and manganese than other samples it was compared with, hence, it is economically valuable for exploration