Toxicity Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soils around Transformers in University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria

Abstract

Transformers has inbuilt dielectric substances and various forms of oils that serve various functions. In addition to transformer metal wares, these oils contain trace amount of various heavy metals which could leak and constitute environmental problems by adding up to the soil’s concentration. Soils have been found to be the major sink for heavy metals when released into the environment. It has been noted that most heavy metals do not undergo microbial or chemical degradation because they are nondegradable and as a result, there is bioaccumulation of their total concentrations after being released to the environment and it affects the food chain [1],[2],[3].