Analysis of mercury and its distribution patterns in water and sediment samples from Krueng Sabee, Panga and Teunom rivers in Aceh Jaya

Abstract

Analysis of mercury (Hg) in water and sediment samples from Krueng Sabee (KS), Panga (P) and Teunom (T) rivers have been carried out. Water and sediment samples were collected at three different sampling points. Concentration of mercury was determined by using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Measurement of temperature, pH and salinity of the water samples was carried out in situ method. The results of in situ measurements showed a temperature ranges of 24 to 32°C, pH of 6 - 8 and salinity of 0.1 - 0.3. Based on the analysis of samples, the concentration of mercury in water and sediment samples during March 2019 (sunny condition) were 0.3328 and 6.2330 μg/L, respectively and April 2019 (rainy condition) were 0.0560 and 0.2778 μg/L, respectively. Evaluation of the pattern of Hg distribution in water and sediment samples was conducted by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method. The result of PCA analysis in sediment samples showed a strong correlation between Hg concentration at the KS1 and KS2 sampling points. Meanwhile, the concentration of Hg in water samples showed a strong correlation at sampling points of T2 and T3.