Asian Basic and Applied Research Journal

Soil can constitute a nuisance to public health when contaminated. Continuous monitoring of soil quality is a way of ensuring the safety of the soil to plants and animals. The aim of this work is to carry out a comprehensive investigation of soil quality of Lagos State University (LASU), Epe, Lagos State, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected at the surface (0 – 10 cm) layer from 8 different points and were stored in various polythene bags labeled SSA1 – SSH1. A control sample was also taken 1 km away from LASU (control) which was store in a polythene bags labeled SCI1. All the selected sampling points were coordinated using handheld Global Position System (GPS) for the purpose of universal identification. Each of the sampling point was then dug with 6 inches diameter up to a depth of 50 – 60 cm where soil samples were taken and labeled SSA2 – SSH2 while that of the control was labeled SSI2. All the soil samples were analysed for physicochemical parameters which include bulk density, pH, calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), potassium (K), total nitrogen (TN), phosphate (PO₄), Sulphate (SO₄), nitrate (N) and total hydrocarbon content (THC). The heavy metals analysed were nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd) and manganese (Mn) while the microbiological were total coliform, E.coli, total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) and  total heterotrophic fungi (THF). The results revealed that the bulk densities of soil samples investigated ranged between 935 and 1340 kg/m³ and the pH varied between 5.5 and 6.8. The concentrations of nickel, chromium and cadmium in all the samples examined were less than 0.001 mg/kg. The concentrations of iron and lead ranged between 32. 98 and 133.73 mg/kg and between less than 0.001 and 12.6 mg/kg respectively, which were lower than the threshold values. The concentrations of copper, zinc and manganese in the samples investigated were also less than the threshold values. It was concluded that the soils of LASU have not been impacted negatively and they were of good quality.