Abstract

Soil and vegetation samples were collected in the vicinity of the Eternit Plc in Sapele, Delta State of Nigeria. The company manufactures asbestos roofing sheets. The samples collected were analytically treated and digested in acid mixture for trace metals such as lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium, copper and nickel usingatomic absorption spectrophotometry Model Perkin Elmer A. Analyst 100. This study was carried out for the period covering January to August, 2024. The results obtained showed that all the metals analysed were detected and variations of metals concentrations were observed in soils and vegetations collected from thirteen and control sample sites. The results further revealed that the mean concentrations of the trace metals in soils exceeded those of the vegetation except lead which did not follow the said trend. Lead concentrations were more available in vegetation in soil. Soil – Plant transfer factor computed showed high degree of accumulation of lead, iron and cadmium from soil to plant. The computation of contamination/pollution index carried out revealed that some of the metals were very slightly contaminated, slightly contaminated and moderately contaminated. On the other hand, some of the metals were slightly polluted, moderately polluted, severely polluted and very severely polluted. The contamination/pollution of metals in soils and vegetations samples were traceable to the activities of Eternit Plc, since the background sample values were lower than those values obtained in the study area.

Key words: Contamination/Pollution, Eternit PLC, Soil and vegetation, Metal concentrations, Transfer factor.