Njinga R.L, Baba Alfa Okoh Sunday and Muhammad T. A
Clay products in Tatiko village, Paikoro local government area in North central part of Nigeria with coordinates 9°26′N 6°38′E / 9.433°N 6.633°E have been major instruments of cooking, drinking of water, eating of meals, decorations and exportations for decades, thus the need to ascertain the level of trace heavy elements. Samples of red clay sediments were taken at a vertical depth of 150 cm and a horizontal depth of 100cm beneath the earth surface at site 1, and labeled Tat. A1. Also, Brown clay sediments were taken at a vertical depth 200 cm and horizontal depth of 100cm beneath the earth surface at site 2 and labeled Tat. B1. Clay sediments products with sample identification: Tat. A2, Tat. M2, Tat. F3 and Tat. M3 were analyzed using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) technique (mini pal 4 PW 4030 X-ray Spectrometer) for the determination of sixteen elements of interest; Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, K, Mn, Mo, P, Rb, Si, Ti, V, and Zn. The concentration of Al, Si, and Fe which were the major elements in the samples ranged from 6.56% to 11.1%, 18.77 to 29.43% and 8.39 to 17.04% respectively for all the analyzed samples. The concentration of the following which constitute the trace elements; Ba, Ni, V, Cu, Ga, P, Ti, and Zn were within the range of 0.15% to 0.47%, 0.011% to 0.0463%, 0.03% to 0.066%, 0.008% to 0.0567%, 0.0005 to 0.0896%, 0.1264% to 0.2005% , 0.6591% to 1.049% respectively. The concentrations of elements obtained were outside the range of toxic and hazardous permissible criteria recommended by Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) of Nigeria 1998.
