Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soya Beans and Some Cereal Samples from Shani and Kwayakusar Local Government Areas in Borno State, Nigeria

Shani and Kwayakusar local government areas produce large scale of cereal and soya beans for both consumption and commercial purposes, thus use large amount of agrochemicals and other soil amendments to boost production. Heavy metals are accumulated and subsequently absorb by plants as a result of long-term application of agrochemicals, hence the need to asses the level of these metals in cereal and soya beans samples from these areas. Cereal (sorghum and maize) and soya beans samples were collected in agricultural locations of the two local government areas and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AA–6800 SHIMADZU) was use to the determine level of the heavy metals. When compared with joint safety limit of WHO/FAO, the levels of heavy metals in cereal and soya beans samples were higher in most of the agricultural locations. The levels of all the heavy metals studied in all the agricultural locations were higher in the post-harvest grains than in the pre-harvest grains. The average daily dose (ADD) of the heavy metals computed for cereal and soya beans samples were above the tolerable daily intake. According to the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) results, eating cereal and soy samples from the study area could increase your risk of developing cancer-related diseases by 10-4 tolerable limits. The findings further suggested that the application of agrochemicals over an extended period of time may have been a major contributor to the presence of heavy metals in the grain samples. As a result, consumption of the study's soy beans and cereals poses a health risk due to their Pb, Cd, and As content and should be prioritised by the appropriate authorities.