Shotuyo A.L.A.¹ , Bambgose O.² , Oduntan O.O.¹ , Akintunde A.O.¹ , Ogunsola O.S.²

1. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
2. Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 2016, Vol. 6, No. 1   doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2016.06.0001
Received: 30 Mar., 2016    Accepted: 11 May, 2016    Published: 11 May, 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Shotuyo A.L.A., Bambgose.O., Oduntan O.O., Akintunde A.O. and Ogunsola O.S. 2016, Levels of Some Heavy Metals in African Giant Land Snail (Archachatina marginata) in Major Markets in Abeokuta, South West Nigeria, International Journal of Molecular Ecology and Conservation, 6(1): 1-6 (doi: 10.5376/ijmec.2016.06.0001)

The level of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd) as bio indicator of metal pollution in Abeokuta by analysing snails samples from major markets in Abeokuta. The level of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd) were determined using Atomic absorption Spectrophotometer. Analysis of the results showed that the concentration of lead ranged from 4.15 mg/kg in Omida market to 7.93mg/kg in Lafenwa market. Similarly, Copper concentration ranged from 0.339mg/kg in Omida market to 0.719 mg/kg in Lafenwa market. The highest concentration of Cadmium was at Lafenwa market with a value of 0.06 mg/kg. Lafenwa market showed the highest concentration of the three metals and the trend of metal concentration was of the order Pb > Cu > Cd. The levels of contamination of the snail samples were lower than the recommended FAO/WHO levels. However, there is need for regular periodic checking of heavy metals level of edible snails available in open market to safe guard the health of the general public.

Heavy metals; Concentrations; Giant Snails; Abeokuta