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Cumulative ecological risk of groups of trace metals in soils impacted by agricultural activity

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Abstract

In this study, a new cumulative ecological risk index (CRI) was proposed to assess the ecological risk of groups of trace metals that simultaneously pollute an environment. Trace metals in the subsurface soils of the Gboko district, Nigeria were analyzed to evaluate the impact of agricultural, industrial, and urbanization on soil pollution. Twenty-five soil samples were collected and analyzed for potentially toxic trace metals. The cumulative ecological risk assessment revealed two groups of metals (Group 1-Cu + Cr + Ni + As) and (Group 2-Pb + Zn + Hg) that simultaneously accumulate and pollute the soils of the Gboko area. The CRI of the Group 1 metals ranged from 6 to 64 with a mean value of 15 and the Group 2 metals ranged from 6 to 1773 with a mean value of 162. For the Cu + Cr + Ni + As group of trace metals, 72% of the soil samples belong to very low and low ecological risk, and 28% belong to moderate to very high ecological risk. In the case of the Pb + Zn + Hg group of trace metals, 80% have a very low to low ecological risk and 20% have a moderate to very high ecological risk.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely appreciate the efforts of Mr. Alex Bajah (late), who assisted one of the authors during the field data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Programme, Department of Geology/Geophysics, Faculty of Physical Science, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike, Abakaliki, Nigeria

    O. V. Omonona

  2. Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

    C. O. Okogbue

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  1. O. V. Omonona
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  2. C. O. Okogbue
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Conceptualization: Omonona Olufemi Victor Data curation: Omonona Olufemi Victor Investigation: Omonona Olufemi Victor Methodology: Omonona Olufemi Victor Supervision: Okogbue Celestine Obialo Writing-original draft: Omonona Olufemi Victor Writing-review and editing Omonona Olufemi Victor.

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Correspondence to O. V. Omonona.

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Editorial responsibility: J Aravind.

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Omonona, O.V., Okogbue, C.O. Cumulative ecological risk of groups of trace metals in soils impacted by agricultural activity. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 21, 687–702 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-04985-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-023-04985-8

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