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IJESD 2016 Vol.7(10): 750-756 ISSN: 2010-0264
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2016.7.10.874
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2016.7.10.874
Heavy Metals Pollution and Ecological Risk Assessment in Surface Sediments of West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia
Tijjani Rufa’i Buhari and Ahmad Ismail
Abstract—In this study, Surface sediments from six sampling
sites in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were analysed for
heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Ni) to evaluate the pollution
status and ecological risk assessment. Sediment samples were
collected in triplicates from six sampling sites in the study area.
Direct aqua – regia method was employed to analyse the total
metal concentrations in the sediment samples. The filtrates
obtained from the sediments, were determined for heavy metals
by using an air –air acetylene flame atomic absorption
spectrophotometer (AAS) Perkin Elmer Analyst 800. The
results showed that Zn and Cd reveal considerable
contamination, and almost all the sampling sites were of
moderate degree of contamination. The calculated; Potential
Ecological Risk Index (RI) ranged from low to moderate, the
Sediment Quality Guideline Quotient (SQG-Q), for all the
sampling sites falls into impact level category 2; indicating
moderate impact potential for observing adverse biological
effects. All the studied metals except Zn were found below
effective range-median (ERM). The present study reveals that
surface sediments from west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were
exposed to heavy metals pollution; Zn and Cd were observed as
metals of Ecotoxicological significant in the present study.
Index Terms—Surface sediments, heavy metals, pollution, ecological risk, west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Tijjani Rufa’i Buhari is with the Department of Biological Sciences Northwest University, Kano, Nigeria (e-mail: trbuhari@yahoo.com).
Ahmad Isma’il is with the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43300 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: aismail@science.upm.edu.my).
Index Terms—Surface sediments, heavy metals, pollution, ecological risk, west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Tijjani Rufa’i Buhari is with the Department of Biological Sciences Northwest University, Kano, Nigeria (e-mail: trbuhari@yahoo.com).
Ahmad Isma’il is with the Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43300 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia (e-mail: aismail@science.upm.edu.my).
Cite: Tijjani Rufa’i Buhari and Ahmad Ismail, "Heavy Metals Pollution and Ecological Risk Assessment in Surface Sediments of West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 7, no. 10, pp. 750-756, 2016.
