Speciation study of the heavy metals in commercially available recharge cards coatings in Nigeria and the health implication.

ABSTRACT: This work assessed levels of heavy metals exposure from silver coatings of mobile phones recharge cards of three major companies (designated as A, B and C) with price denominations 100, 200 and 400 from companies A, B and C respectively, which were carefully scratched using a plastic scraper into a glass tube. The coatings were acid digested for total metal concentration, while speciation experiment for Mn, Cu, Cd and Pb was carried out. Total metals and speciation analysis were done using AAS and XRF techniques. The total metal concentration from XRF analysis was in the range: Ca (70-2140 ?g/g), K (20-4930 ?g/g), Sc (80-270 ?g/g), Ti (1530-12,580 ?g/g), Fe (50-6660 ?g/g), Ni (20-2040 ?g/g), Cu (20-850 ?g/g) and Zn (40-460 ?g/g). Cr had the lowest concentration (10 ?g/g) in A ( 400) while Ti had the highest concentration (12,580 ?g/g) in C ( 500) for all the coatings analyzed. AAS and XRF results agreed closely except for Fe with higher concentration. A ( 100) contained high concentration of the metals compared with others. Speciation study identified Mn as the most mobile element when present in the environment.

SUBMITTER: Adekunle AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5598170 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature