Abstract

Road construction materials and vehicular emissions have been found to constitute the major sources of soil and air pollution. This study attempts to investigate the influence of road furniture and vehicular emissions on the accumulation of heavy metal in some of the roadside soil of Benin City, Edo State. The objective of this study was to determine the concentration of heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Mn, Cr, Cd, Cu, and Ni from roadside soil around some selected roads in Benin City. Three locations were selected on the basis of their high concentration of vehicular traffic. A control site with no form of vehicular emission or road construction material pollution was selected outside these three locations. Samples were collected from April to June 2013. The concentrations of seven heavy metals in the samples were determined with an atomic absorption spectrometer, of which the result obtained indicates that the metals from the three sampled sites were higher than that in the control site, whereas the mean concentration of each of the heavy metal in the three locations except for Zinc and Nickel was below the European Union Regulatory Standard (EURS). Although these concentrations were below the European Union Regulatory Standard, these metals, which over time are washed by erosion into the local areas used for farming, may pose health hazards. The enhancement of fuel quality and the adoption of emission standards to mitigate the impact of vehicular emissions on human health should be made mandatory.

Key words: Heavy metals, soil, pollution.