The Pollution Characteristics of Harmful Heavy Metal in Surface Sediment of Sepang River, Malaysia

Abstract

The presence of heavy metal in environment is commonly associated with environmental pollution, which requires monitoring. Human activities have caused a tremendous increase in heavy metal pollution in aquatic environment that includes mangroves, rivers, estuaries, and coastal wetlands. With that, it is critical to assess environmental and health impacts of pollution in Sepang River. In this study, the presence of heavy metal in the mangrove sediment from Sepang River was detected. The concentrations of As, Mn, Zn, Cr, Fe and Co in the sediment were measured using instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). It is found that the concentration of As was determined to be higher than the geochemical background value of shale, across all sampling sites, while Co concentrations were observed to be the lowest. The enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) of the heavy metals were calculated. The study indicated that, both EF and Igeo of As, 8.09 and 1.84 respectively show severe to excessive enrichment and moderate pollution. Overall, the study suggests that heavy metal pollution in the Sepang River, particularly with respect to As, needs to be closely monitored to prevent it from becoming a major environmental and health hazard. The study also highlights the importance of using advanced analytical techniques, such as INAA, to accurately measure the concentrations of heavy metals in environmental samples.