A Review of Sequential Extraction Procedures for Heavy Metals Speciation in Soil and Sediments

Abstract

Heavy metals are stable and persistence environmental contaminant of marine sediments. The vast increase in population growth, urbanisation and industrialisation leads to increase in of marine discharges, which results in total loads of pollutants being delivered to the sea. Heavy metal pollution in aquatic environment and subsequent uptake in food chain by aquatic organisms and humans put public health at risks. However, even at lower concentrations heavy metals like Cd, Hg, Cr and Pb may exhibit extreme toxicity under certain condition. Thus, this makes regular monitoring of aquatic environment to be more imperative and necessary. This paper therefore, review the occurrence of heavy metals and various speciation methods used for heavy speciation in soil and sediments.