Soil Enzymes Assessment Around Amega Cement Factory in Nigeria

High soil quality is important for agricultural activities but pollution from cement industries is of great threat to sustainable agriculture in Nigeria. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of heavy metals in cement dust on the soil enzymes activities. This study investigated the activities of some selected soil enzymes, the microbial communities' population, the concentrations of some heavy metals, some selected soil macronutrients and the physico-chemical properties (pH, moisture, and temperature) of the soil surface (0-15 cm), within the vicinity of a cement factory in Nigeria. The pH, total organic nitrogen (TON), total organic carbon (TOC) and heavy metals decreased with increasing distance from the cement factory. The microbial population around the factory was (34.00 ± 2.64 CFU g-1) and (92.00 ± 1.00 CFU g-1) at 100 m and the control site respectively. All the soil heavy metals contents analyzed are less than the permissible limit except Cd. Moreover, the enzyme activities increased away from cement factory except alkaline phosphatase that decreases with increase in distance. The enzymes activities (except alkaline phosphatase) correlated negatively with the content of all heavy metals, the pH, the TON, the TOC and temperature but positively correlated with moisture, phosphorous and microbial populations. The inverse correlations between most of the heavy metals, the pH and soil enzymes activities could be a result of the pollution. This means that the cement production exhibits a significant effect on the enzyme activities.