COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS ON THE HEAVY METAL CONTENT OF PROFILE SOIL OF CHALLAWA INDUSTRIAL AREA, KANO, NIGERIA

The effects of Industrial effluents on the soils resources of Challawa Industrial Area, Kano, Nigeria was studied by assessing the chemical characteristics of the natural horizons of profile pits and top soils at different distances from the effluent sludge and control site. Different samples were collected at the affected and unaffected sites and analyzed with high Powered Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. At the unaffected area, (Co), (Cd), (Zn), (Cr), (Pb) and (Cu) were generally low (0.21, 0.01, 0.31, 0.57, 0.39 and 0.03 respectively), within FEPA/WHO standards and decreased down the horizons, while at the area affected, (Cr) and (Fe) were high (3.53 and 137.51 respectively). Higher concentration of Mn was noticed at the affected area than the unaffected area. Apart from Mn and Fe that increased down the horizons and profile pits, Cr, (Pb) and (Cu) decreased down the horizon and within profiles. Cr was discovered to be the major heavy metal pollutant at the area affected by industrial effluent, and being the greatest pollutant from tannery industries, monitoring bodies should put in more efforts to ensure compliance by tannery industries by treating their effluents internally before discharge into the environment.