Human activities in urban settings contribute in no small measure to the contamination of soils and thus poses major health concern. The levels of different soil metals associated with sawmill environs including chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu) and Iron (Fe) was evaluated using Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following the digestion of the soil samples whilst the microbial composition was determined using standard techniques. The concentrations of the different studied metals in the soils decreased with depth in both sites. More concentration of heavy metals was observed in the 0m soil depth. The studied heavy metals recorded varying concentration in the soil with the highest values of 345.6mg/kg, 25.3mg/kg, 0.75mg/kg, 4.96mg/kg and 4.40mg/kg respectively for Iron, Zinc, Chromium, Lead and copper. The distribution of the studied metals by level of abundance were Fe > Zn > Ni > Cr > Pb. The concentration of copper was found more on the edge (0m) and decreased as the distances studied. Decreased concentrations of the metals at distances far off the sawmilling site (500m) strongly highlights the contribution of sawmilling activity to the accumulation of these heavy metals in such environments. The bacterial counts at both sites show that soil from Okigwe had slightly higher load. It had 5.4 × 107cfu/g, 5.0 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/g at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively. It also had 4.9 × 107cfu/g, 4.6 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/ at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively for total fungal load. The samples of soil obtained from 500m distance away from sawmilling operations had the least number of the bacterial counts at both sites with counts 4.4 × 107cfu/g and 4.1 × 107cfu/g for the Okigwe and Ahiaeke sawmills respectively. In this study gene sequencing of the bacterial 16SrRNA was adopted to characterize associated bacterial communities within sawmilling soils. Our results show that the isolates were predominantly Proteobacteria, including Enterobacter, Alcaligenes, and Bacillus species. Gene sequences of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments retrieved from bacterial isolates in this study were deposited in the GenBank nucleotide sequence database under accession nos. MK621199, MK621103, MK621201, MK640631, MK640622 MK640642 and MK640638 (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The concentrations of the metals as observed from this study may not portray significant exposure risks, however there are fears that accumulation of these metals over time might be of concern in future. Hence this study calls for continued assessment and monitoring of activities within sawmills and it’s surrounding to protect the environment from imminent harm from excessive accumulation.
| Published in | International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology (Volume 7, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17 |
| Page(s) | 42-46 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Heavy Metals, Wood, Sawmill, Ahiaeke, Pollution
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APA Style
Obike-Martins Victoria, Uchenna Ugochinyere Faithwin, Uma Stella Ajachukwu, Uwanu-Mecha Ezinne Geraldine, Okereke Okereke Hope, et al. (2022). Heavy Metal and Microbial Composition of Soil Around Sawmilling Sites in South East Nigeria. International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology, 7(1), 42-46. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17
ACS Style
Obike-Martins Victoria; Uchenna Ugochinyere Faithwin; Uma Stella Ajachukwu; Uwanu-Mecha Ezinne Geraldine; Okereke Okereke Hope, et al. Heavy Metal and Microbial Composition of Soil Around Sawmilling Sites in South East Nigeria. Int. J. Biochem. Biophys. Mol. Biol. 2022, 7(1), 42-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17
AMA Style
Obike-Martins Victoria, Uchenna Ugochinyere Faithwin, Uma Stella Ajachukwu, Uwanu-Mecha Ezinne Geraldine, Okereke Okereke Hope, et al. Heavy Metal and Microbial Composition of Soil Around Sawmilling Sites in South East Nigeria. Int J Biochem Biophys Mol Biol. 2022;7(1):42-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17
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author = {Obike-Martins Victoria and Uchenna Ugochinyere Faithwin and Uma Stella Ajachukwu and Uwanu-Mecha Ezinne Geraldine and Okereke Okereke Hope and Ewa Chikodi Shine and Nwaugo Vivian Chime},
title = {Heavy Metal and Microbial Composition of Soil Around Sawmilling Sites in South East Nigeria},
journal = {International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology},
volume = {7},
number = {1},
pages = {42-46},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijbbmb.20220701.17},
abstract = {Human activities in urban settings contribute in no small measure to the contamination of soils and thus poses major health concern. The levels of different soil metals associated with sawmill environs including chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu) and Iron (Fe) was evaluated using Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following the digestion of the soil samples whilst the microbial composition was determined using standard techniques. The concentrations of the different studied metals in the soils decreased with depth in both sites. More concentration of heavy metals was observed in the 0m soil depth. The studied heavy metals recorded varying concentration in the soil with the highest values of 345.6mg/kg, 25.3mg/kg, 0.75mg/kg, 4.96mg/kg and 4.40mg/kg respectively for Iron, Zinc, Chromium, Lead and copper. The distribution of the studied metals by level of abundance were Fe > Zn > Ni > Cr > Pb. The concentration of copper was found more on the edge (0m) and decreased as the distances studied. Decreased concentrations of the metals at distances far off the sawmilling site (500m) strongly highlights the contribution of sawmilling activity to the accumulation of these heavy metals in such environments. The bacterial counts at both sites show that soil from Okigwe had slightly higher load. It had 5.4 × 107cfu/g, 5.0 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/g at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively. It also had 4.9 × 107cfu/g, 4.6 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/ at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively for total fungal load. The samples of soil obtained from 500m distance away from sawmilling operations had the least number of the bacterial counts at both sites with counts 4.4 × 107cfu/g and 4.1 × 107cfu/g for the Okigwe and Ahiaeke sawmills respectively. In this study gene sequencing of the bacterial 16SrRNA was adopted to characterize associated bacterial communities within sawmilling soils. Our results show that the isolates were predominantly Proteobacteria, including Enterobacter, Alcaligenes, and Bacillus species. Gene sequences of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments retrieved from bacterial isolates in this study were deposited in the GenBank nucleotide sequence database under accession nos. MK621199, MK621103, MK621201, MK640631, MK640622 MK640642 and MK640638 (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The concentrations of the metals as observed from this study may not portray significant exposure risks, however there are fears that accumulation of these metals over time might be of concern in future. Hence this study calls for continued assessment and monitoring of activities within sawmills and it’s surrounding to protect the environment from imminent harm from excessive accumulation.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Heavy Metal and Microbial Composition of Soil Around Sawmilling Sites in South East Nigeria AU - Obike-Martins Victoria AU - Uchenna Ugochinyere Faithwin AU - Uma Stella Ajachukwu AU - Uwanu-Mecha Ezinne Geraldine AU - Okereke Okereke Hope AU - Ewa Chikodi Shine AU - Nwaugo Vivian Chime Y1 - 2022/06/29 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17 DO - 10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17 T2 - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology JF - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology JO - International Journal of Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology SP - 42 EP - 46 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-5862 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbbmb.20220701.17 AB - Human activities in urban settings contribute in no small measure to the contamination of soils and thus poses major health concern. The levels of different soil metals associated with sawmill environs including chromium (Cr), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu) and Iron (Fe) was evaluated using Atomic Adsorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) following the digestion of the soil samples whilst the microbial composition was determined using standard techniques. The concentrations of the different studied metals in the soils decreased with depth in both sites. More concentration of heavy metals was observed in the 0m soil depth. The studied heavy metals recorded varying concentration in the soil with the highest values of 345.6mg/kg, 25.3mg/kg, 0.75mg/kg, 4.96mg/kg and 4.40mg/kg respectively for Iron, Zinc, Chromium, Lead and copper. The distribution of the studied metals by level of abundance were Fe > Zn > Ni > Cr > Pb. The concentration of copper was found more on the edge (0m) and decreased as the distances studied. Decreased concentrations of the metals at distances far off the sawmilling site (500m) strongly highlights the contribution of sawmilling activity to the accumulation of these heavy metals in such environments. The bacterial counts at both sites show that soil from Okigwe had slightly higher load. It had 5.4 × 107cfu/g, 5.0 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/g at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively. It also had 4.9 × 107cfu/g, 4.6 × 107cfu/g and 4.4 × 107cfu/ at 0m, 50m and 100m respectively for total fungal load. The samples of soil obtained from 500m distance away from sawmilling operations had the least number of the bacterial counts at both sites with counts 4.4 × 107cfu/g and 4.1 × 107cfu/g for the Okigwe and Ahiaeke sawmills respectively. In this study gene sequencing of the bacterial 16SrRNA was adopted to characterize associated bacterial communities within sawmilling soils. Our results show that the isolates were predominantly Proteobacteria, including Enterobacter, Alcaligenes, and Bacillus species. Gene sequences of bacterial 16S rRNA gene fragments retrieved from bacterial isolates in this study were deposited in the GenBank nucleotide sequence database under accession nos. MK621199, MK621103, MK621201, MK640631, MK640622 MK640642 and MK640638 (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The concentrations of the metals as observed from this study may not portray significant exposure risks, however there are fears that accumulation of these metals over time might be of concern in future. Hence this study calls for continued assessment and monitoring of activities within sawmills and it’s surrounding to protect the environment from imminent harm from excessive accumulation. VL - 7 IS - 1 ER -
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