Research Journal Environmental and Earth Sciences 2(1): 39-43, 2010

ISSN: 2041-0492
M axwell Scientific Organization, 2009
Submitted Date: October 28, 2009 Accepted Date: November 14, 2009 Published Date: January 10, 2010

Heavy Metal Contamination of Ground Water: The Surulere Case Study

M.A. M omodu and C .A. Anyak ora

Departm ent of Pharmaceutical Chem istry, Faculty of Pharmacy, U niversity of Lag os, Nigeria

Abstract: Heavy M etal contamination of the groundwater in middle class neighbourhood of Lagos was
assessed. About forty nine well and borehole water samples were analyzed using Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometer for their Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead content and their levels compared with WHO
specified max imum contamina nt level. According to the WHO , the Maximum C ontaminant Level (MCL) for
Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead are 0.2, 0.003 and 0.01mg/L respectively. From the results obtained, none of
the samples analysed contained Aluminium in concentrations above the MC L, however, the metal was found
to be present in 93.88% of the samples analysed. Over 38% of the samples had Cadmium present in them and
32.65% of the sa mple s had Cad mium conc entrations above the MCL. Almost 60% of the samples had
detectable level of Lead while 36.73% of the sample had Lead concentration above the MCL. In general
97.96% of all samples an alysed contained one or more o f the three heavy metals studied each in varying
concentrations. The results obtained from this study suggest a significant risk to this population given the
toxicity of these metals and the fact that for many, hand dug wells and b ore ho les are the only sources of their
water supply in this environm ent.

Key w ords: AAS, ground water, heavy metals, maximum contamination level and WHO

INTRODUCTION harbour channel dredging) (Marcovecchio et al., 2007).

W ater is one of the essentials that supports all forms
of plant and animal life (Vanloon and Duffy, 2005) and it
is generally obtained from two principal natural sources;
Surface water such as fresh water lakes, rivers, streams,
etc. and Ground water such as borehole water and well
water (McM urry and Fay, 2004; Mendie, 2005). Water
has unique chemical properties due to its polarity and
hydrogen bonds which means it is able to dissolve,
absorb, adsorb or suspend many different compounds
(WHO, 2007), thus, in nature, water is not pure as it
acquires contaminants from its surrounding and those
arising from humans and animals as well as other
biolog ical activities (M endie, 2005).
One of the most important environmental issues
today is ground water contamination (Vodela et al., 1997)
and between the wide diversity of contaminants affecting
water resources, heavy m etals receive particular con cern
considering their strong toxicity even at low
concentrations (Marcovecchio et al., 2007).
Heavy metals are elem ents having atomic we ights
between 63.546 and 200.590 and a specific gravity greater
than 4.0 i.e. at least 5 times that of water. They exist in
water in colloidal, particulate and dissolved phases
(Adepoju-Be llo et al., 2009) with their occurrence in
water bodies being either of natural origin (e.g. eroded
minerals within sediments, leaching of ore deposits and
volcanism extruded products) or of anthropogenic origin
(i.e. solid w aste disposa l, industrial or domestic effluents,
Some of the metals are essential to sustain life-calcium,
magnesium, potassium and sodium must be present for
normal body functions. Also, cobolt, copper, iron,
manganese, moly bdenon and zinc are need ed at low levels
as catalyst for enzyme activities (Adepoju-Bello et al.,
2009), however, excess exposure to heavy metals can
result in toxicity.
Heavy metal can cause serious health effects with
varied symptoms depending on the nature and quantity of
the metal ingested (Adepoju-Bello and Alabi, 2005). They
produce their toxicity by formin g com plexe s with
proteins, in which carboxylic acid (COO H), amine
(NH 2 ), and thiol (SH) groups are involved. These
modified biological molecules lose their ability to
function properly and result in the malfunction or death of
the cells. When metals bind to these groups, they
inactivate important enzyme systems or affect protein
structure, which is linked to the catalytic properties of
enzymes. This type of toxin may also cause the formation
of radicals which are dangerous chemicals that cause the
oxidation of biological molecules.
The most comm on heav y metals that humans are
exposed to are Aluminium, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and
Mercury. Aluminium has been associated with
Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease, senility and pre-
senile dementia. Arsenic exposure can cause among other
illness or symptoms cancer, abdom inal pain and skin
lesions. Cadmium exposure produces kidney damage and
hypertension. Lead is a commutative poison and a

Corresponding Author: Dr. C.A . Anyakora, D epartm ent of Pharm aceu tical Ch emistry, Fac ulty of Pharmacy,
University o f Lagos, N igeria
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 Res. J. Environ. Earth Sci., 2(1): 39-43, 2010

possible human carcinogen (Bakare-Odunola, 2005) while Table 1: Well water samples
Sample number Sample Type
for Mercury , toxicity results in mental disturbane and
WW 1 Well Water
impairment of speech, hearing, vision and movement WW 2 Well Water
(Hammer and Hammer Jr., 2004). In addition, Lead and WW 4 Well Water
Mercury may cause the deve lopm ent of autoimmun ity in WW 5 Well Water
which a persons immune system attacks its own cells. WW 7 Well Water
WW 9 Well Water
This can lead to joint diseases and ailment of the kidneys, WW 14 Well Water
circulatory system and neurons. At higher concentrations, WW 18 Well Water
Lead and Mercury can cause irreversible brain damage. WW 24 Well Water
In Nigeria today, the use of ground water has become an WW 27 Well Water
WW 34 Well Water
agent of development because the government is unable WW 35 Well Water
to meet the ever increasing water demand. Thus, WW 41 Well Water
inhab itants have had to look for alternative ground water WW 42 Well Water
sources such as shallow wells and boreh oles. The qu ality WW 47 Well Water
WW 48 Well Water
of these ground water sources are affected by the WW 50 Well Water
characteristics of the media through which the water
passes on its way to the ground water zon e of saturation Tab le 2: B oreh ole w ater sa mp le
(Adeyemi et al., 2007), thus, the heavy metals discharged Sample Num ber sample Type
BH 3 Borehole
by industries, traffic, municipal wastes, hazardous wa ste
BH 6 Bo reho le
sites as well as from fertilizers for agricultural purposes BH 8 Bo reho le
and accidental oil spillages from tankers can result in a BH 10 Borehole
steady rise in contamination of ground water (Vodela BH 11 Bo reho le
BH 12 Bo reho le
et al., 1997; Igwilo et al., 2006).
BH 13 Bo reho le
There is thus the need to assess the quality of ground BH 15 Bo reho le
water sources. Th e W orld H ealth Organisation has BH 16 Bo reho le
specified Maximum Contaminant Level for the presence BH 17 Bo reho le
BH 19 Bo reho le
of heav y me tals in w ater. Th e aim of this study is to
BH 20 Bo reho le
assess the quality of ground water sources in Surulere, a BH 21 Bo reho le
mod erately populated lower middle class neighbourhood BH 22 Bo reho le
in Lagos. With the aid of Atomic Absorption BH 23 Bo reho le
BH 25 Bo reho le
Spectroph otometer the presence and concentration of
BH 26 Bo reho le
three heav y me tals (Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead) BH 29 Bo reho le
were determined and the results compared to the BH 30 Bo reho le
maximum contamina nt level specified by the W orld BH 31 Bo reho le
BH 32 Bo reho le
Health Organisation.
BH 33 Bo reho le
BH 36 Bo reho le
MATERIALS AND METHODS BH 37 Bo reho le
BH 38 Bo reho le
BH 39 Bo reho le
All chemicals and reagents were of the analytical
BH 40 Bo reho le
grade and w ere ob tained from B DH Chemicals Ltd, UK. BH 43 Bo reho le
5% trioxonitrate (V) acid was used for the digestion of the BH 44 Bo reho le
samples. Aluminium sulphate octadecahydrate, Cadmium BH 45 Bo reho le
BH 46 Bo reho le
Chloride and Le ad Nitrate were used for preparation of
BH 49 Bo reho le
Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead standards respectively.
in analysis, the samples were digested with concentrated
Sam ple collection and location: Ground water samples
nitric acid. 10ml of nitric acid was added to 50ml of water
were rando mly collected from 4 9 sam pling sites (17 w ells
in a 250 ml conical flask. The mixture was evaporated to
and 32 bore holes) in 11 different areas o f Surulere in
Lagos, Nigeria. These areas include; Adelabu, Aguda, half its volume on a hot plate after which it was allowed
Akerele, Idi-Araba, Ikate, Kilo, Masha, Obele Odan, to cool and then filtered.
Ojuelegba, Ogunlana and Randle. Table 1 and 2 give the
sample information. D istilled water labelled DW 28 Standard preparation: 1000ppm stock solution of
served as control. The samples were collected during the Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead were prepared by
month of July 2009. dissolving in a 1 litre volumetric flask 24.62, 1.63 and
1.60g of Aluminium sulphate octadecahydrate, Cadmium
Sa m ple digestion: To ensure the rem oval of organic chloride and Lead nitrate re spectively w ith 5% nitric acid.
impurities from the samples and thus prevent interference The mixture was shaken and the flask made up to the 1

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 Res. J. Environ. Earth Sci., 2(1): 39-43, 2010

litre mark with the nitric acid for each metal. Calibration Tab le 3: Re gressio n data for the c alibration plots
Metal ion A l 3+ C d 2+ Pb 2+
solutions of the target metal ions were prepared from the Regression Y = 0.0118x 0.01 Y = 0.021x 0.019 Y = 0.0555x 0.049
standard stock by serial dilution. equation
Coefficient of 0.9672 0.9592 0.9661
determination
Samp le analysis: The dige sted water samples w ere 2
(R )
Correlation
analysed for the presence of aluminium, cadmium and
c oe ff ic ie nt ) 0.98 0.98 0.98
lead using the Buck Scien tific 210VG P Atomic
Absorption Spectrophotometer. The calibration plot Table 4: Co ncentration of metal ions in w ell water samples
method w as use d for the analysis. A l 3 + (mg/L) C d 2 + (mg/L) Pb 2 + (mg/L)
Air-acetylene was the flame used and hollow cathode WW 1 0.010 0.001
WW 2 0.012 0.091
lamp of the corresponding elements was the resonance
WW 4
line source, the wavelength for the determination of the WW 5 0.002
elements were 309.30nm, 228.80nm and 283.31nm for WW 7 0.024 0.001
aluminium, cadmium and lead respectively. The digested WW 9 0.014 0.081 0.014
WW 14 0.093 0.011
samples were analysed in duplicates with the average
WW 18 0.021 0.005 0.019
concentration of the metal present being displayed in WW 24 0.013 0.009
mg/L by the instrum ent after extrapolation from the WW 27 0.010 0.061
standard curve. WW 34 0.018 0.012
WW 35 0.019 0.004
WW 41 0.045 0.014
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION WW 42 0.010
WW 47 0.078 0.031
Calibration curves were obtained using a series of WW 48 0.042 0.026 0.018
varying concentrations of the standards for the three WW 50 0.041 0.017
N ot detected.
metals. All 3 calibration curves were linear with a
correlation coefficient ranging from 0.959 to 0.967. Table 5: Concentration of metal ions in borehole water samples
Table 3 shows the regression data for the calibration plots. A l 3 + (mg/L) C d 2 + (mg/L) Pb 2 + (mg/L)
Table 4 and 5 show the level of the metals in the studied BH 3 0.001
BH 6 0.002
water samples. The concentration level ranged from
BH 8 0.011 0.012
0.001mg /L to 0.099 mg/L. There was no detectable heavy BH 10 0.061
metal in the distilled water w hich served as the control. BH 11 0.045 0.008
Table 6, 7 and 8 giv e the summ ary of the results BH 12 0.014 0.009
obtained in this study for aluminium, Cadmium and Lead BH 13 0.086 0.012
BH 15 0.051 0.012 0.024
respectively. BH 16 0.071 0.098
For the protection of human health, guidelines for the BH 17 0.011 0.051
presence of heavy metals in water have been set by BH 19 0.095 0.007
different International Organisations such as USEPA, BH 20 0.085 0.014
BH 21 0.016 0.012
W H O , EPA, European Union Co mm issio n
BH 22 0.010 0.002 0.012
(Marcov ecch io et al., 2007), thus, heavy metals have BH 23 0.010 0.011
maximum permissible level in water as specified by these BH 25 0.090 0.009
organisations. Maximum contaminant level (MCL ) is an BH 26 0.012 0.002
enforceab le standard set at a numerical value with an BH 29 0.009 0.031
BH 30 0.078
adeq uate m argin of safety to ensure no adverse effect on BH 31 0.001 0.019
human health. It is the highest level of a contaminant that BH 32 0.008
is allowed in a water system. The three elements studied BH 33 0.011 0.010 0.001
in this research namely: Aluminium, Cadmium and Lead BH 36 0.099 0.009
BH 37 0.024 0.021
have Maximum C ontaminant Levels of 0.2mg/L,
BH 38 0.067 0.001
0.003mg /L and 0.01mg/L respectively (WHO, 2000; BH 39 0.059 0.008 0.011
Ham mer and Ham mer Jr., 2004). BH 40 0.024
Aluminium is the most abundant element found in the BH 43 0.022 0.014
earths crust (John De Zuane, 19 90) an d from the resu lt BH 44 0.045 0.016
BH 45 0.089 0.011 0.021
obtained from its analysis, the minimum concentration of BH 46 0.067
aluminium detected in the water sam ples for both BH 49 0.045
borehole and well water was 0.001mg/L with the N ot detected.
maximum concentration being 0.099mg/L. None of the
water samples contained Aluminium above the specified (88.24% for well wa ter and 96.88 % for bo rehole w ater)
Maximum Contaminant Level (0.2mg/L). Howev er, and since to xicity is associated with continuous low level
Aluminium was detec ted in 93.88% of the water samples exposure, this can even tually lead to serious health effects

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 Res. J. Environ. Earth Sci., 2(1): 39-43, 2010

Tab le 6: Su mm ary statistics o f Alu min ium ion an alysis Contaminant Level (0.01mg/L ) with the maximum
Well W ater Bore Ho le Water Both
Num ber of samples 17 32 49 concentration detected being 0.024mg/L.
Num ber with Al detected 15 31 46 These results are of concern as lead has been
% detected 88.24% 96.88% 93.88%
Minimum concentration 0.010 mg /L 0.001 mg /L 0.001 mg /L
recognised for centuries as a cumulative general
detected metabolic poison (Adepoju-Bello and Alabi, 2005 ). It is
Maximum concentration 0.093 mg /L 0.099 mg /L 0.099 mg /L
a neuro toxin and is responsible for the most common type
detected
WH O M aximum Contaminant 0.2m g/L 0.2m g/L 0.2m g/L of human metal toxicosis (Berman, 1980). Also, studies
L evel (MC L ) have linked lead exposures even at low levels with and
N u m b er ab o ve M C L 0 0 0
% a b o ve M C L 0 0 0 increase in blood pressure (Zietz et al., 2007) as well as
with redu ced in telligenc e quo tient in ch ildren
Tab le 7: Su mm ary statistics o f Cad miu m io n ana lysis
Well water Bore hole water Both
(Needleman, 1993) and with attention disorders (Yule and
Num ber of samples 17 32 49 Rutter, 1985 ).
Num ber with Al detected 8 11 19 Overall, aside two samples, WW 2 and DW 28
% detected 47.06% 34.38% 38.78%
Minimum concentration 0.001 mg /L 0.001 mg /L 0.001 mg /L (distilled water), all other samples co ntained detectable
detected amo unts of one o r more of the heavy metals studied with
Maximum concentration 0.091 mg /L 0.098 mg /L 0.098 mg /L
detected 8 samples containing all 3 metals.
W HO M axim um Con tamin ant 0.003 mg /L 0.003 mg /L 0.003 mg /L
L evel (MC L )
N u m b er ab o ve M C L 7 9 16
CONCLUSION
% a b o ve M C L 41.18% 28.13% 32.65% These results show high concentration of these heavy
metals and in some cases the levels were above WHO
Tab le 8: Su mm ary statistics o f Lea d ion a nalysis
Well water Bore hole water Both specified M aximum C ontaminant level. This suggests a
Num ber of samples 17 32 49 significant risk to this population given the toxicity of
Num ber with Al detected 10 19 29
% detected 58.82% 59.38% 59.18%
these metals and the fact that for many, hand dug wells
Minimum concentration 0.001 mg /L 0.001 mg /L 0.001 mg /L and bore h oles are the only sources of their water sup ply
detected
in this environmen t.
Maximum concentration 0.019 mg /L 0.024 mg /L 0.024 mg /L
detected
W HO M axim um Con tamin ant 0.01m g/L 0.01m g/L 0.01m g/L REFERENCES
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