ASSESSMENT OF LEAD POLLUTION AND ITS PHYTOREDUCTION IN SOIL AROUND BATTERY MANUFACTURING SITE IN NNEWI ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

BACKGROUD  OF THE STUDY
he problem of the human environment to which attention is increasingly drawn are mainly the event and the obvious consequences of the over exploitation of the earth’s resources, some of which are already recognized to have a very limited lifetime (Park, 1997).

These effects on the environment include the worst features of urbanization, with industrial and mining operations causing gross problems of pollution by their products and wastes such as oil spillages in the oceans, chemical waste discharges into rivers and unsightly slag heaps (Park, 1997).

An average Nigerian throws away nearly a ton of solid waste each year and it has been difficult to dispose of this ever increasing amount of solid waste which causes air, water or soil pollution.

Waste can be defined as any substance which includes scrap material or effluent or unwanted surplus substance arising from the application of any process, and any substance or article which requires to be disposed off as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled (Park, 1997).

A pollutant may be defined as a substance or effect which adversely alters the environment by changing the growth rate of species, interferes with the health, comfort, amenities or property values of the people (Park, 1997).

Solid waste is a term used to discribe non – liquid refuse. In some developing cities of Nigeria, one rarely plies about 4km without seeing solid waste dumps. It has been a culture among the citizenry to heap these waste materials along the major roads, within the streets or inadvertently drop them in sacks at close environments (Brock and Stopford, 2003).

These refuse dumps comprise of wastes like clothing materials, women weavons, beverage and food cans, polythene bags, glasses, worn-out tyres, plastics, papers, corn residues, carcasses, batteries, exhaust pipes, water pipes, chemical containers, tobacco sticks and packets, pharmaceuticals, cow dungs, human faeces (Scheper, 2002).

Apart from the eyesore or the despoliation of urban and rural scene they cause pollution of the soil, air and water. These wastes contain many toxic substances like acids, alkalis, phenols, cyanides and heavy metals. Metals especially are non-biodegradable and in the ecosystem are persistent (Jakko, 1991).