Journal of Global Ecology and Environment

Evaluation of the Effects of Heavy Metals on Sediments and Rainwater Samples Due to Gas Flaring in the South Eastern Nigeria

2023-07-21T10:25:40+00:00

This study evaluates the concentrations of heavy metals in sediment and rainwater samples of Ibeno, south eastern Nigeria due to gas flaring. Surface sediment samples were collected randomly in six different sites during the dry season in the intertidal zone at extremely low tide from the flare point to a distance of about 250m away from the flare site. Rainwater samples were collected with the use of pre-clean basins at an open space in three selected communities of Ibeno and were transferred into different sterilized plastic rubbers with their labels. These samples were transported to the laboratory for analysis of heavy metals concentrations using a particle induced x-ray emission (PIXE) technique. Heavy metals such as Titanium (Ti), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Rubidium (Rb), Strontium (Sr), Zirconium (Zr) and Lead (Pb) were analyzed in sediments while Vanadium (V), Arsenic (As), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Chromium (Cr), Manganese (Mn) and Cadmium (Cd) were obtained in rainwater. The concentrations of Iron (Fe) in sediments are higher at the study area than every other elements but Manganese (Mn) poses more negative effects than others. The four pollution indices such as enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF) and pollution load index (PLI) were employed to assess the contamination status of heavy metals in sediment samples of the study area. The results revealed the elemental trend to be in descending order in each area of this study, which followed the sequence Mn> Zn> Pb> Cu> Fe> Sr> Rb> Cr> Ti >Zr, while PLI revealed the extent of pollution in each site which ranged from 1.44 to 1.94. Most of the heavy metals concentrations in sediments such as Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu and Fe were far above the permissible limits, while in rainwater samples Pb, Cd, Ni, Fe and Mn were far above the permissible limits by WHO, 2008 and NSDWQ, 2007. This revealed that the rainwater in the study area were not free from toxicity and are unfit for drinking. Analysis of multi-variant statistics such as Pearson’s correlation coefficient and cluster analysis were also applied to ascertain the relationship and sources of investigated heavy metals. Both positive and negative correlations were observed among some heavy metals at 0.01 and 0.05 levels, while the cluster analysis revealed four main clusters. The study revealed that the ecosystems in the studied areas were vulnerable to bioaccumulation of heavy metals in that soil which could be of hazard effect to the ecosystem.

Physicochemical Alteration and Water Quality Index of Ede-Onyima Lake, Okarki-Engenni, in Rivers State, Nigeria

2023-07-21T10:37:51+00:00

Freshwater quality is deteriorating as a result of ongoing threats from both anthropogenic and natural sources, resulting in an overall loss of ecological integrity. To provide an easily-understandable summary of complex water quality data, water quality indices (WQIs) -the Canadian water quality index (CWQI 1.0) model -was used for two distinct purposes, to assess the portability of the water and its suitability for the protection of aquatic life. The Canadian Council of Ministers Environment's water quality index (CCME WQI) was calculated by combining three variables: scope (F1), frequency (F2), and amplitude (F3), to produce a single value between 0 (worst) and 100 (best) representing the water quality. Predominantly impacted by the F3, which resulted in a WQI score of 32. Ede Onyima lake was ranked “poor” indicating that it is unfit for human consumption and aquatic life protection. The lake was impaired by high turbidity (86 NTU), trace metals such as Fe (20.73 mg/L), Mg (8.67 mg/L), and Mn (5.92 mg/L) loads. Their remobilization during turbulent flow portends a harmful effect on the Ede Onyima's water quality, indicating the critical need for a cohesive lake watershed management system to sustain conservation purposes of the lake and sustenance lake-dependent livelihoods.

Effects of Herder-farmer Conflict on Output of Food Crops among Households in the Niger Delta Region, Nigeria

2023-07-24T07:59:20+00:00

The study examined the effects of herder-farmer conflict on output of food crops among respondents. A sampling technique applied was multistage sampling in selection of respondents. Data were collected through administration of questionnaire for 768 respondents out of which 648 respondents were found useful for the work. Data were analysed with the use of likert scale, regression models and descriptive statistics. The study revealed that farmer-herder conflict, hired labour, amount of money spent on seed, amount of money spent on fertilizer, age, farming experience, amount of money spent on weeding, farm size, household size and contact with extension agent have positive differential coefficient, hence, positive relationship exist between the aforementioned variables and production output. The study therefore recommends that Nigeria‘s government should invest in the security area by consistently providing the security personnel with upgraded security gadgets and adequate security funding for training and equipping security staff in best global security practices and defensive intelligence gathering.