particle induced x-ray emission (pixe) assisted technique in the evaluation of potential ecological risks of heavy metals in surface sediments of Oba-Ile River, Ifelodun Local Government Area, Osun-State, Nigeria

The seasonal evaluation of trace elements in the surface sediments collected from Oba-Ile River, using Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) Spectroscopy had been carried out. This was done so as to provide information about the pollution status of the river during the rainy and dry seasons. The samples were subjected to trace metal profiling using a 2.5 Mev proton available at the Ion Beam Analysis (IBA)/accelerator laboratory, Centre for Energy Research and Development (CERD), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. The facility is centered on a NEC 5SDH 1.7 MV Pelletron accelerator, equipped to provide proton and helium ions. A multi-elemental estuarine sediments referenced material (SRM 1646a purchased from NIST) was used for the determination of H-value which was subsequently used for analyzing the samples and assured the accuracy of the experimental procedure. The order of abundance of the 16 elements identified was Si > Fe >Al >K > Ca >Ti > Na > Mg > Zr > Mn > Sr > V > Cr > Zn > Pb > Cu. The contamination factor indicated that the metals presented a low contamination factor (LCf) to moderate contamination factor (MCf) except for Fe and Zr which presented a considerable contamination (CCf) and a very high contamination factor (VHCf) respectively. Other contamination indices indicated that Fe had either a moderate enrichment (ME) factor or a significant enrichment (SE) factor, thereby suggesting that Oba-Ile River sediment was particularly enriched in Fe