SEASONAL VARIATION ASSESSMENT IN THE CONCENTRATIONS OF HEAVY METALS IN WATER AND SEDIMENT SAMPLES FROM KOMADUGU RIVER BASIN, YOBE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Water and sediment samples were collected during the rainy and dry season from Komadugu river basin, Yobe State, Nigeria for the determination of some heavy metals which include Pb, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ni, Mn, As, Cr. Digestion of water and sediment samples were carried out using standard procedures, the concentrations of heavy metals were determined using Perkin-Elmer A Analyst 300 Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and X-Ray Fluoresces (XRF) to provide for comparative analysis between the methods. The concentrations of all the heavy metals in the water samples during the rainy and dry season ranged from 1.10E-04 to 7.74E-01 mg/L, Fe was observed to show the highest total concentrations (1.35E+02 mg/L) during the dry season, while as shows the total lowest concentration with a value of (1.00E-03 mg/L) during rainy season. The concentrations of all the heavy metals in the sediment samples were significantly higher at sampling point S8 with a value of (2.99E+04 mg/kg) during the dry season, while the lowest value was observed at sampling point S1(4.00E-02 mg/kg). Fe was the most dominant in all the sampling points, while Pb shows the lowest concentration. The results further indicate that, the concentrations of all the heavy metals were significantly higher in the sediment samples when compared with the water samples.