Assessment of heavy metals in exchangeable sediments samples from Tigris – Euphrates and Shatt al-Arab rivers

Abstract

The object of this study is the concentrations of heavy metals (cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and zinc) in sediment samples taken from the Tigris, Euphrates, and Shatt al-Arab rivers during the autumn 2021 to summer 2022. According to the analyses performed using the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer, showed the seasonal average of heavy metal concentrations ranges between the lowest value (7.46 µg/g) for nickel in summer and the highest value (785.08 µg/g) for iron during winter in exchangeable phase. Measurements were made of variables that influenced how heavy metals were distributed in the sediments, as shown by (total organic carbon, and grain size analysis) which revealed a relationship between the concentrations of heavy metals in the sediments and these variables, suggesting that pollution from various human activities – the main cause of the high concentrations of some heavy elements in the study area's sediments above the global natural rates. Geo Accumulation Index (I-geo) for heavy elements in the sediments was also determined, and it showed that the yearly rate of the concentrations of the metals varied between the lowest value (–6.912) of Iron and the maximum value (6.767) for cadmium. Additionally, it was determined the enrichment coefficient (EF) for the heavy elements in the sediments, where the annual rate of the metals ranged between the lowest value (3.23) for manganese and the highest value (10406.58) for cadmium, and was accounted the contamination factor (CF) for the heavy metals in the sediments, where the annual average of the metals ranged between the lowest value (0.012) for iron and the highest value (163.4) for cadmium. If our findings are compared to those of previous study, this will be lies within previous data. This is very important data it can be used as a baseline for coming study, and also used as a reference in other countries.