Determination of Heavy Metals in Water, Fish and Soil Samples from Antau River in Keffi, Nasarawa State, Nigeria: A Case Study of Antau River in Keffi, Nasarawa North Central Nigeria

Water satisfies domestic, industrial as well as agricultural purposes hence the need to monitor the level of water pollution. In this work, the concentration of heavy metals in water, fish (Tillapia zilli and Claria gariepinus) and soil samples collected from both downstream and upstream were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer method. Heavy metals detected include: Pb, Zn, Cd, As, Fe, Ni, Cr, Co and Mn. The level of Zn was found to be higher in water (± 0.80 mg/L) and fish (± 31.9 mg/kg) while Pb concentration was found to be higher in soil samples (± 3.76 mg/kg) compared to other metals. Of all the three samples namely: water, fish and soil, soil has the highest concentration of heavy metals followed by fish and water. The concentration values of Pb, Ni, Cr and Mn were found to be higher in all the three samples and are above the acceptable limits specified by World Health Organization (W.H.O), while Zn, Cu and Fe were found with the W.H.O limits, thus confirming conclusively that the river is heavy polluted with the presence of heavy metals.