World Bank assisted National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) - University of Port Harcourt
Abstract
Soils are the basic and most important resources of any people.
Differences in soil’s physical and chemical properties are
related to the spatial distribution of land uses. Most of these human
activities generate toxic substances that are transported considerable
distances away from source and become accumulated in soils, sediment,
water bodies and fisheries. Urban soils are largely affected by impact
of urbanization whose consumptive pattern is related to the social and
economic aspect of the society. The study deployed contaminant factor
(CF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) to examine the differences in
the urban soils of Lagos Mainland Area due to human activities. The
topsoils of the predominant human activities identified in the area
were sampled and analyzed to find out the differences in the soils due
to the concentration of heavy metals among six land use types. The
coefficient of variation and standard deviation techniques were
deployed to study the degree of variation and compare the mean values
of soil physical and chemical properties of twelve representative
topsoils collected from six locations. All metals analyzed showed
significant (p<0.05) variation in the concentration of heavy metals,
CF and Igeo among land uses. Spatial distribution of heavy metals
indicates areas of potential risks of harmful heavy metals in the urban
environment which enhances action plan for remediation and protection
of the urban environment