Heavy metal determination in household dusts from Ilorin City, Nigeria

Abstract

Levels of lead, cadmium, nickel, copper and iron were determined in the indoor dusts from 18 different
and geographically spread locations in Ilorin, capital of Kwara State of Nigeria. The highest mean level was obtained
for Fe and it ranged from 28.60 – 45.40 mg kg-1, while the lowest mean level was obtained for Cd with the range of
0.001 – 0.38 mg kg-1. Some locations exhibited higher levels than the Dutch standard values for uncontaminated soil,
but they were all below indicative values required for further investigation or cleaning up.
Higher average levels were generally observed for residential houses or public buildings located along heavily
travelled municipal roads such as Post Office, Ibrahim Taiwo, Amilegbe and Emir’s Palace Market. Statistical analysis
also indicated positive correlation between all the possible pairs of heavy metals except copper and cadmium. The
most important correlation coefficients were observed between Cd/Fe (r = 0.4520) and Pb/Ni (r = 0.4450). Low
correlations were obtained for Pb/Cu (r = 0.0895), Cu/Ni (r = 0.0962) and Cu/Fe (r = 0.0983). This suggested a likely
common source, which could most probably be traced to vehicular emissions and other related activities.
Key Words: Environmental pollution; Heavy metals; Lead; Cadmium; Nickel; Copper; Iron.