Abstract
Abstract Heavy metals are pollutants of river sediments, and their concentration varies depending on parental material and anthropogenic inputs, thus it is important to distinguish between the natural and anthropogenic inputs. The objective of this study is to use different types of indexes to assess the current pollution status in Ogbere River sediment and select the best index to describe the sediment quality. The indexes used in this study were enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA has an advantage over other index analyses as it reduces the dimensionality of the data set and thus used to support multivariate cluster analysis. From the study, a total of 12 sediment samples were collected in both seasons across six sampling location and pollution indexes indicated three things: firstly, the metal distribution profile in the sediment showed that the heavy metals analysed were lower than the maximum allowable limits stipulated by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR); secondly, minor to extremely severe significant levels of enrichment and thirdly, practically uncontaminated to a moderately contaminated degree of contamination in Ogbere River during the study period. The PCA is considered more sensitive in the analysis of benthic changes as well as sediment quality. However, the heavy metal assessment indices are not only used for sediment quality. Biological testing and ecological analysis of existing community related to sediment contamination are further recommended in River Ogbere.
Highlights
Heavy metals are one of the important groups of pollutants in the aquatic environment that bind to sediments and the effects which linked to its transport and storage of materials (Horowitz 1991)
The present study shows that the geochemical distribution of elements in sediment samples from the study area varies widely
The metal distribution profile in the river sediment revealed a lower concentration to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) standard of allowable limits
Summary
Heavy metals are one of the important groups of pollutants in the aquatic environment that bind to sediments and the effects which linked to its transport and storage of materials (Horowitz 1991). Caeiro et al (2005) observed that different assessment indices for the aquatic environment have been developed and these are powerful tools for development, evaluation and conveying raw environmental information to decision makers, managers and water stakeholders. These authors described sediment as a pivotal influence in water contamination which involves analysis indexes to evaluate the degree to which the sediment-associated chemical status might adversely affect aquatic organisms and humans
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