Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contents in Road Dust of Jalingo, Taraba State, Nigeria

The investigation of the anthropogenic contamination by heavy metals on road surface is very necessary for environmental planning and monitoring in urban towns. In the presentstudy, the concentration of five heavy metals (Fe, Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn) in dust samples, from two major township roads -Hammaruwa Way (HW) and Palace Way (PW) in Jalingo metropolis, were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The pollution status was assessed using Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQG), Geo-accumulation index (Igeo), Degree of Contamination (CD), Pollution Load Index (PLI) and Enrichment Factor (EF). Results of SQG, Igeo, CD and PLI show that these urban roads are not polluted. Analysis of the Enrichment Factor shows that apart from Pb, all other metals analyzed are enriched and the enrichment comes from anthropogenic activities. This implies that the soils are contaminated to some degree but not polluted. It is evident that the concentration of these heavy metals may increase and pose health hazards at the long run if proactive steps are not taken to check vehicular pollution.