Investigation of lead levels in plants and soil along Sir Apollo Kagwa Road due to leaded gasoline once used

Abstract

Despite the well-known adverse consequences of lead poisoning, there is still little data on the magnitude of lead poisoning in Uganda. East African countries were a bit slow to place measures on leaded products not until Uganda phased out the use of leaded gasoline in December 2005. (UNEP-PCFV, 2008). However, it’s believed that million tons of lead remained in the atmosphere as a silent epidemic. The objective was to determine lead levels in the environment; on soils and in plants along Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road and assess its impacts to humans. Therefore, this research aimed at quantifying the amount of lead still in the environment since the ban. As a result, the major focus area was along roads using sir Apollo Kaggwa Road as a base area. This was chosen because it has been in existence for quite long and it possesses a high traffic. This makes it one of the affected roads. Samples were not taken near shells, not near homes and swamps to limit effects from other lead sources like leaded paints, industrial drainage systems. The concentration of lead levels in the samples was obtained using the atomic absorption spectrum after sample collection, preparation, and sample digestion. The lead content in the samples of the soils is almost the same of about 0.38ppm for samples taken 2metres from the road. Also, the lead content in plants is similar of about 0.2ppm taken 2metres from the road. The results show no significant lead pollution along Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road posing a lower risk to the humans. But since lead is non-biodegradable and is not dissolved by the body, its accumulation could be of harm. The results show much low lead levels in relation to the acceptable levels by the world health organization accounting to constant reduction of lead in the environment. These results are useful in creating awareness about the risk of lead contamination to human health and in the enactment of policies and regulation measures to continue limiting lead pollution and contamination to the environment.