MULTI-MEDIA ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIALLY HARMFUL ELEMENTS AND ASSOCIATED HEALTH RISKS IN SOILS, WATER, AND FOOD CROPS FROM DERELICT MINING LANDS IN JOS AND BARKIN-LADI, NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2025-1001-4512Keywords:
Potentially harmful elements, Mining contamination, Health risk assessment, Metal speciation, Jos Plateau, NigeriaAbstract
Abandoned tin-columbite mining on the Jos Plateau has left extensive mine dumps and water-filled pits that continue to contaminate surrounding soils, surface waters, and food crops with potentially harmful elements (PHEs). This study integrates concentration analysis, pollution indices, chemical speciation, and human health risk assessment across dump soils, farm soils, mine pond waters, and edible vegetables from Jos and Barkin-Ladi, North-Central Nigeria. A total of seventy-one soil samples, thirty-seven water samples, and representative vegetable samples were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Pollution indices, including the geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and contamination factor (CF), were applied, while human health risks were evaluated using United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) exposure models for adults and children. Metal speciation was assessed using thermodynamic equilibrium modeling (WATEQ4F). Results indicate elevated concentrations of Mn, Ba, Ag, Zn, Pb, As, and Cr across all environmental media, with pollution indices revealing moderate to extreme contamination factors linked to legacy tin mining, particularly for Ag and Ba. Speciation modeling indicates that many metals occur predominantly as free ionic species under prevailing pond-water chemistry, enhancing mobility and transfer into agricultural soils and crops irrigated with mine water. Non-carcinogenic risks (HI > 1) are substantial, particularly for Mn and Zn, with children facing disproportionately higher risks. Arsenic carcinogenic risk exceeds acceptable limits for both age groups. These findings highlight an active soil-water-plant contamination continuum and underscore urgent needs for restricting mine-pond irrigation, targeted soil remediation, and routine monitoring of food crops in mining-impacted communities.
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