摘要：Metal poisoning is one of the major causes of death in Africa which is an end-product of debilitating or life threatening illnesses such as cancer, anaemia, poor bone development, nervous disorders, impaired renal and hepatic functions among other diseases. Trace metals build up in the environment mainly from anthropogenic sources and become nuisance to the ecosystem and disrupting normal metabolic processes. Metal toxicity may result from an unconscious intake of metals through food, water or air which gets accumulated above the recommended dietary allowance or toxic dose. To this background, this work seeks to examine the trace metal content (using Varian Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (FS 240)) of soil, water and staple food cultivars from Old Nkpor, Ugwu-agba Obosi, New Nkpor which are areas known for high motorist activities including repair and maintenance of car engines, replacement of spent engine and gear oil, replacement of worn out parts of cars, painting, vulcanizing among other services within mechanic workshops located close to residential areas. Uli, an area free from metal poisoning however served as control. The result of the study revealed varying concentration of trace metals in the samples analysed at p < 0.05. Fe concentration was highest in Bitter leaf sample from Old Nkpor, 85.84±0.09 mg/100g. Zn was highest in soil samples from Old Nkpor, 16.26±0.03 mg/100g while the highest Pb content was found in Fluted pumpkin from Old Nkpor, 5.12±0.13 mg/100g. Cadmium and Copper were not detected in all the sample, while Chromium was only present in water sample from Ugwu-agba Obosi (19.23±0.45 mg/100g) and Cocoyam sample from Old Nkpor (19.23±0.03 mg/100g). Generally, the preponderance of trace metals in soil and food cultivars obtained from the analysis follows the trend from highest to lowest (Old Nkpor > Ugwu-agba Obosi > New Nkpor > Uli). This is an indication that the level of metal concentration in soil is directly proportional to the exposure of the food to anthropogenic substances within the environment and as such measures should be put in place to reduce the level of exposure of our food to it.
关键词：Trace metal; Pollution; Metal poisoning; Food contamination
