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Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway

Received: 3 September 2013     Published: 20 October 2013
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Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate levels of lead contamination from past use of leaded fuel in motor vehicles along the Kitwe-Ndola dual-carriage way (high way), in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The study was conducted over a period of seven months (April to November, 2012). Following the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia in 2010, the question that needed addressing was “how much of the lead on the surface and sub-surface levels in soils was due to leaded fuel influence?” To answer this question, sixteen (16) sampling points were set from which 32 samples were collected to analyze for soil lead levels along the highway (HWY). The selection of the study area and consequently sampling points was based either on heavy traffic, economic activities or population density along the HWY. The samples were collected at different depths (0.05m and 0.50 m) and varying distances (5m and 50m) from the HWY at the selected sampling points. The collected samples were then analyzed for the lead content in triplicates. The results showed that concentrations reduced with distance from the HWY and concentrations were generally higher on the surface (0.05m) than at the bottom (0.50m). The results further showed higher concentrations of lead at points where vehicles generally slowed down along the HWY. This was particularly the case with the police check point (611 ppm) which had the highest levels of lead contamination on the soils. The results of this study revealed that there is lead contamination of soils along the Kitwe-Ndola HWY which emanated from mobile sources. It could therefore be seen that two (2) years after the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia, the soil lead levels remain influenced by the past use of leaded fuel.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 2, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12
Page(s) 128-133
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Leaded Fuel, Mobile Sources, Soil Contamination

References
[1] ERB, Energy Regulation Board Newsletter: Second Edition. ERB Lusaka, 2008.
[2] T. Midgley, Jr., and F. C. Kettering, Tetraethyl lead Solves the "Knock" Problem: Its Discovery and Early Developments OrganometallicsVol. 22: Issue 25, 2003, pp.5154–5178.
[3] Christian Warren, Brush with Death, A social History of Lead Poisoning, John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore-USA; 2001.
[4] P.J. Landrigan, C.B. Schechter, J.M Lipton, M.C.Fahs, and J. Schwartz, "Environmental pollutants and disease in American children". Environmental health perspectives, Vol.110: Issue 7; 2002, pp.721–8.
[5] SADC, Phase out of Leaded Petrol: The Future of Petrol in Zambia. ERB, Lusaka, 2008.
[6] Mwila Mundu, Pollution in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region: The case of lead in Zambia and South Africa, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan. 2010.
[7] UNEP, Sub-Saharan Africa Lead Matrix: Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, UNEP, Nairobi, 2009.
[8] R. Taylor, "Countries where Leaded Petrol is Possibly Still Sold for Road Use". The LEAD Group.http://www.lead.org.au/fs/fst27.html.2011 (Accessed, 13 May 2013).
[9] M.J, Kosnett, K.L. Hipkins, and B.L Materna, Medical guidelines for the lead-exposed worker. American Association Occupational Health Nurse: Vol., 46: 1998: pp330-339.
[10] M.J.Kosnett, Heavy metal intoxication and chelators. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2007.
[11] J.Eisinger, "Lead and wine. Eberhard Gockel and the colica Pictonum". Medical history Vol. 26; issue 3: 1982, pp.279–302.
[12] E.Rossi, "Low Level Environmental Lead Exposure – A Continuing Challenge "The Clinical biochemist. Reviews / Australian Association of Clinical Biochemists Vol 29: Issue 2, 2008, pp.63–70.
[13] S. Gilbert and B. Weiss"A rationale for lowering the blood lead action level from 10 to 2 μg/dl" Neurotoxicology Vol. 27; Issue 5: 2006; pp.693–701.
[14] J.M. Pearce, "Burton's line in lead poisoning", European Neurology, Vol. 57: Issue 2, 2007, p118–9.
[15] W. M. White, Composition of the Oceanic Crust, Geochemistry, Vol. 3, 2013, pp. 564- 583
[16] R.C.Dart, Medical Toxicology, 3rd edition.Lippincott Williams & Wilkins,2004.
[17] MECA, The Case for Banning Lead in Gasoline, Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association, Washington DC, 2003.
[18] J.C.Merrill; J.J.P Morton and S.D Soileau, Principles and Methods of Toxicology, Vol. 5 edition.CRC Press. 2007.
[19] L. Patrick, "Lead toxicity, a review of the literature. Part 1: Exposure, evaluation, and treatment". Alternative medicine review: a journal of clinical therapeutic, Vol. 11 Issue 1, 2006, pp2–22.
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  • APA Style

    Cuthbert Casey Makondo, Jhonnah Mundike, Phenny Mwaanga. (2013). Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 2(6), 128-133. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12

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    ACS Style

    Cuthbert Casey Makondo; Jhonnah Mundike; Phenny Mwaanga. Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2013, 2(6), 128-133. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12

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    AMA Style

    Cuthbert Casey Makondo, Jhonnah Mundike, Phenny Mwaanga. Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway. Am J Environ Prot. 2013;2(6):128-133. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12,
      author = {Cuthbert Casey Makondo and Jhonnah Mundike and Phenny Mwaanga},
      title = {Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {2},
      number = {6},
      pages = {128-133},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20130206.12},
      abstract = {The main purpose of this study was to investigate levels of lead contamination from past use of leaded fuel in motor vehicles along the Kitwe-Ndola dual-carriage way (high way), in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The study was conducted over a period of seven months (April to November, 2012).  Following the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia in 2010, the question that needed addressing was “how much of the lead on the surface and sub-surface levels in soils was due to leaded fuel influence?” To answer this question, sixteen (16) sampling points were set from which 32 samples were collected to analyze for soil lead levels along the highway (HWY).  The selection of the study area and consequently sampling points was based either on heavy traffic, economic activities or population density along the HWY. The samples were collected at different depths (0.05m and 0.50 m) and varying distances (5m and 50m) from the HWY at the selected sampling points. The collected samples were then analyzed for the lead content in triplicates. The results showed that concentrations reduced with distance from the HWY and concentrations were generally higher on the surface (0.05m) than at the bottom (0.50m). The results further showed higher concentrations of lead at points where vehicles generally slowed down along the HWY. This was particularly the case with the police check point (611 ppm) which had the highest levels of lead contamination on the soils. The results of this study revealed that there is lead contamination of soils along the Kitwe-Ndola HWY which emanated from mobile sources. It could therefore be seen that two (2) years after the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia, the soil lead levels remain influenced by the past use of leaded fuel.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Lead Deposition from Mobile Sources: A Case Study of Ndola-Kitwe Dual Carriage Highway
    AU  - Cuthbert Casey Makondo
    AU  - Jhonnah Mundike
    AU  - Phenny Mwaanga
    Y1  - 2013/10/20
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 128
    EP  - 133
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20130206.12
    AB  - The main purpose of this study was to investigate levels of lead contamination from past use of leaded fuel in motor vehicles along the Kitwe-Ndola dual-carriage way (high way), in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The study was conducted over a period of seven months (April to November, 2012).  Following the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia in 2010, the question that needed addressing was “how much of the lead on the surface and sub-surface levels in soils was due to leaded fuel influence?” To answer this question, sixteen (16) sampling points were set from which 32 samples were collected to analyze for soil lead levels along the highway (HWY).  The selection of the study area and consequently sampling points was based either on heavy traffic, economic activities or population density along the HWY. The samples were collected at different depths (0.05m and 0.50 m) and varying distances (5m and 50m) from the HWY at the selected sampling points. The collected samples were then analyzed for the lead content in triplicates. The results showed that concentrations reduced with distance from the HWY and concentrations were generally higher on the surface (0.05m) than at the bottom (0.50m). The results further showed higher concentrations of lead at points where vehicles generally slowed down along the HWY. This was particularly the case with the police check point (611 ppm) which had the highest levels of lead contamination on the soils. The results of this study revealed that there is lead contamination of soils along the Kitwe-Ndola HWY which emanated from mobile sources. It could therefore be seen that two (2) years after the phasing out of leaded fuel in Zambia, the soil lead levels remain influenced by the past use of leaded fuel.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Environmental Engineering, Copperbelt University, SMMS, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Department of Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch (RSA)

  • Department of Environmental Engineering, Copperbelt University, SMMS, Kitwe, Zambia

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