Abstract
Mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead, were measured in sediment samples of river and marine environmental of Basra governorate in southern of Iraq. Sixteen sites of sediment were selected and distributed along Shatt Al-Arab River and the Iraqi marine environment. The samples were distributed among one station on Euphrates River before its confluence with Tigris River and Shatt Al-Arab formation, seven stations along Shatt Al-Arab River and eight stations were selected from the Iraqi marine region. All samples were collected from surface sediment in low tide time. ICP technique was used for the determination of mercury and arsenic for all samples, while cadmium and lead were measured for the same samples by using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The results for all the measurements in Shatt Al-Arab sediment showed the values at extent: (0.0611-0.1233 µg/g), (0.5490-46.2052µg/g), (2.3356-4.7773 µg/g), (51.3309-107.0358 µg/g) for concentration of mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead respectively.While the concentrations in marine sediment were recorded at range: arsenic (0.3510 - 46.0110 µg/g), cadmium (3.5136 - 5.5905 µg/g) and lead (43.68974-75.37045µg/g). The statistical analysis for all stations was studied by using the software SPSS v-20.0. It shows there are no significant differences in the concentrations between stations at P≥0.05 level and also the geo accumulation index was calculated for metals in all stations.
Highlights
Sediments are considered as an important reservoir for various pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals and play an important role in the transfer of contaminants to aquatic system under the suitable conditions and depend on interactions between water and sediment(1,2)
Heavy metals found in the earth's crust with varying ratios of metals and some metals are essential in biological system such as Fe, Se, Zn, Mn...etc
They enter in human feed,animal and plant the deficiencies or excess of essential metals concentration about allowable limit causes a lot of diseases for human and animal (3,4)
Summary
Sediments are considered as an important reservoir for various pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals and play an important role in the transfer of contaminants to aquatic system under the suitable conditions and depend on interactions between water and sediment(1,2). Lead is considered as a toxic element for ecosystem and it exists in the earth crust about 15 μg/g. The most important sources of heavy metals pollution of ecosystem through natural and anthropogenic sources are weathering of rocks, combustion of coal and oil, mining, movement of wind, irrigation and drainage operations, wastewater and industrial waste. All these processes cause the ecosystem pollution of heavy metals (16,17,18,19). We aim in current study to focused on evaluation of some toxic heavy metals level in Sediment samples because deficiency of studies about evaluation these metals in ecosystem in southern of Iraq and other hand its refer about pollution in aquatic system and cause different diseases for human, animals and plant
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