Assessment of some selected heavy metals in soot from the exhaust of heavy duty trucks and power generating plants in Nigeria by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer

Some selected heavy metals were determined in soot samples collected from heavy duty automobiles and diesel power generating plants in Idah Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. The results ind 0icated a high concentration of Pb, Cr, Cu and Mn in all the samples. Cadmium was observed in six of the samples and was not detected in samples MB3 and G1. Of all the parameters analysed, Pb had the highest concentrations of 12.1352±5.007 ppm in sample T 2, followed by MB 3 at 5.1573±0.604 ppm. However the average discharge of Pb to the environment was 4.4511 ppm. Average discharge of Cd in the soot samples was 0.3964 ppm, while that of Cr, Cu and Mn were 0.4898 ppm, 0.8612 ppm and 1.8851 ppm respectively. These values are far above the World Health Organization maximum acceptable limits for air and water emissions and are therefore high source of pollution with its attendant health risks as previously reported in literature.© 2009 International Formulae Group. All rights reserved.Keywords: Soot, FAAS, Pollution, Heavy metals