Open Journal of Ecology, 2019, 9, 200-208 http://www.scirp.org/journal/oje ISSN Online: 2162-1993 ISSN Print: 2162-1985 DOI: 10.4236/oje.2019.96016 Jun. 30, 2019 200 Open Journal of Ecology A Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) Analysis of Heavy Metals in Soil and Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) Leaves at an Artisanal Gold Mining Settlement in Southwestern Nigeria Oladotun Wasiu Makinde 1* , Emmanuel Ayodele Oluyemi 2 , Iyabo Oluremi Olabanji 2 , Taoreed Adewale Adesiyan 3 , Adebayo Oluwole Eludoyin 4 , Katherine Temitope Ogundele 1 , Sejlo Temidayo Gbenu 1 , Isaac Ayodele Tubosun 1 1 C.E.R.D, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 2 Departments of Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 3 Department of Geology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria 4 Departments of Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria Abstract The study examined the contamination levels of the soil and plantain leaves in three communities in Atakunmosa west local government area of Osun State in southwest Nigeria, where gold mining activities have recently become intensive. Plantain is a major food crop, whose leaves are used to wrap food items for household consumption. The objectives were to examine the heavy metal concentrations in the soil and plantain leaves around the gold mine site and compare them with standard recommended safe limits for the environ- ment. Soil and plantain leaves were sampled at different locations around the sites and at a control site from a neighboring local government area with no history of gold mining activities between March 2015 and February 2016. Both soil and leave samples were processed and analyzed for selected heavy metals (Cd, As, Cu, Zn, Cr, Mn and Fe) using the Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) in the laboratory. The study showed higher concentrations than the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limits of the heavy metals in the soils and plantain leaves. Dry season concentrations of the va- riables were also higher than the wet season and the heavy metal concentra- tions at the control station were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than those of the mining environment. The study concluded that the ecosystems in the ar- tisanal gold mining region are vulnerable to bioaccumulation of heavy metals and the leaves from the sites are sources of heavy metal contamination if consumed or used to wrap food items. How to cite this paper: Makinde, O.W., Oluyemi, E.A., Olabanji, I.O., Adesiyan, T.A., Eludoyin, A.O., Ogundele, K.T., Gbenu, S.T. and Tubosun, I.A. (2019) A Particle Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) Analysis of Heavy Metals in Soil and Plan- tain (Musa paradisiaca) Leaves at an Arti- sanal Gold Mining Settlement in South- western Nigeria. Open Journal of Ecology, 9, 200-208. https://doi.org/10.4236/oje.2019.96016 Received: January 10, 2019 Accepted: June 27, 2019 Published: June 30, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access