Rare earth elements (REEs) as pollution indicator in sediment of Linggi River, Malaysia

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) in Linggi river sediments collected from 113 sampling locations. The sediment analysis was performed by Neutron activation analysis (NAA) and Inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results of Linggi river sediment were normalized to “recent” reference shale values. The means of total concentrations of REEs (ΣREE), light REEs (ΣLREE) and heavy REEs (ΣHREE) in Linggi sediment were 241.2, 219.2, and 22.0 mg/kg, respectively, which indicates enrichment compared to ΣREE, ΣLREE and ΣHREE reference shale values. Results obtained from enrichment factors (EF) show no enrichment to moderate enrichment of Linggi sediments, indicating the sources of REEs pollution originated from natural and land-based activities. A similar pattern was observed by comparing the REEs values of Linggi sediments to other references shale values. Ce (δCe) and Eu (δEu) anomalies indicate Linggi sediments showed positive anomaly of Ce whilst negative anomaly of Eu.