Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 19 No 4 (2015): 707 - 714

 

 

 

EVALUATION OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION LEVELS OF BALOK RIVER SEDIMENTS IN PAHANG, MALAYSIA BASED

ON GEOACCUMULATION INDEX AND SUPPORTED

WITH ENRICHMENT FACTOR

 

(Penilaian Paras Pencemaran Logam Berat Terhadap Sedimen Sungai Balok di Pahang, Malaysia Berdasarkan Kepada Indeks Geo-akumulasi dan Di Sokong oleh Faktor Pengkayaan)

 

Mohd Zahari Abdullah¹*, Nur Rashidah Abd Manap¹, Ahmad Saat², Zaini Hamzah², Mohd Tahir Abas¹

 

¹Faculty of Applied Sciences,

Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang,26400 Bandar Tun Razak Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia

²Faculty of Applied Sciences,

Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: umizah@pahang.uitm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 23 November 2014; Accepted: 27 June 2015

 

 

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to assess the level of metal pollution in river sediment samples, which indirectly representing the general quality of the Balok River. The samples of river sediment have been collected at nine sampling stations from the particular river. The total content of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) after an acid extraction. The mean concentrations (mg/kg) were found at 0.49, 16.16, 42.93, 24.31, 2734.69, 155.61, 16.04, 29.31, 50.71 and 159.40 for the respective metals. The assessment of the river quality was done based on the information showed by the enrichment factor (EF) and geoaccumulation index (I_geo). Analysis of the I_geo indexes clearly indicate that most of the sediment samples analyzed in this study contained the selected heavy metals in the levels of unpolluted to moderately pollute. Based on the low EF values recorded in this study, it can be concluded that the Balok River sediments is not significantly contaminated with the studied heavy metals.

 

Keywords: sediment, acid extraction, enrichment factor (EF), Geo-Accumulation Index (I_geo), heavy metals

 

Abstrak

Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menilai tahap pencemaran logam di dalam sampel sedimen sungai, yang secara tak langsung secara umum akan menggambarkan kualiti Sungai Balok. Sampel-sampel sedimen sungai telah diambil di sembilan tapak persampelan daripada sungai tersebut.   Jumlah kandungan Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V dan Zn telah diukur menggunakan plasma gandingan teraruh – spektrometer emisi optik (ICP-OES). Nilai kepekatan purata (mg/kg) bagi setiap logam yang dikaji adalah 0.49, 16.16, 42.93, 24.31, 2734.69, 155.61, 16.04, 29.31, 50.71 dan 159.40 bagi masing-masing logam. Penilaian kualiti sungai telah dilakukan berdasarkan maklumat yang diberikan oleh faktor pengkayaan (EF) dan indeks geo-pengumpulan (I_geo).  Analisis terhadap indeks I_geo jelas menunjukkan bahawa kebanyakan sampel sedimen yang dianalisis mengandungi kandungan logam berat pada paras tidak tercemar sehingga sederhana tercemar. Berdasarkan kepada nilai-nilai EF yang rendah direkodkan dalam kajian ini, maka boleh disimpulkan bahawa sedimen Sungai Balok tidak dicemari secara ketara dengan logam dikaji.

 

Kata kunci : sedimen, pencernaan berasid, faktor pengkayaan (EF), Indeks Geo-akumulasi (I_geo), logam berat

 

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