Assessment of Selected Metals in Onion Bulbs and Leaves Collected from Samaru Market, Zaria, Kaduna

Onoja D Emmanuel, Itodo D Adukwu, Ejila A Odeh and Adejo E Ogweye
2023-09-22 560 views 1 downloads

 

This study examined the levels of metals (Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Zr, Nb, Mo, Ag, Sn, Sb, Ta, Pt, Au, Pb, and Bi) in onion bulbs and leaves in light of the latent toxicity, unsolvable character, and snowballing behaviour of heavy metals. The onion bulbs and leaves were randomly selected from the Samaru market chopped, dried, and ground into a powder for X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF) measurement. Except for concentrations of Si, Ti, Zr, and Ag, with the value of 9.996, 4.051, 2.047 and 2.082 mg/kg in the onion bulbs and 20.23, 5.861, 1.175 and 1.538 mg/kg in the onion leaves respectively, which were higher than the permissible level of 0.800, 0.530, 0.000005 and 0.014 respectively, all the metals analysed were at or below the World Health Organization's (WHO) permissible limit. The findings generally indicated that Si, Ti, Zr, and Ag poisoning could result from eating onion bulbs and leaves from the Samaru market due to the Si, Ti, Zr, and Ag health risks. To avoid metal poisoning and subsequent bioaccumulation of the metal in the systems of consumers and the ecosystem at large, there is a need for a quarterly examination of the metal content in the onion bulb and onion leaf in the Samaru market.

 

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