Characterization and Quantification of Heavy Metals in Oued Sebou Sediments

Abstract

The discharge of large quantities of industrial and domestic effluents into the estuaries, with or without treatment, has led to an increase in the amount of micropollutants present in the sediments. In this study, we have assessed the quality of sediments of Sebou river studying the physicochemical parameters, percentage of organic matter, mineralogy, and trace levels of metal elements trapped in the sample sediments of Sebou river. The sediments samples were collected from the upstream of Fez river, confluence between the Fez river and the Sebou river, Ain Nokbi river, and edge of Sebou river, where wastewaters from the city of Fez are discharged. The sediments samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, while trace levels of metallic elements, Calcium, Zinc, Copper, Cadmium, Iron, and Nickel, were determined by the ICP-AES analysis. The obtained results show that there is a significant change in the values of the studied metals which is probably due to industrial effluents. Indeed, the metal content in the sediments reaches particularly high values exceeding the limit recommended by WHO. These results suggested that the pollution by metallic industrial effluents discharged without treatments poses potential threat to the receiving rivers and may represent a danger for humans which are exposed to pollutants due to the numerous uses of such river waters.

Copper nickel co-impregnation of Moroccan yellow clay as promising catalysts for the catalytic wet peroxide oxidation of caffeine

“…The degradation efficiency of CAF was evaluated in Eq. (1); Where C 0 and C t are CAF concentrations (mg.L À1 ) at the time of withdrawal [34,35,36,37,38].…”

Physical-Chemical Characterization and Heavy Metals Assessment of Waters and Sediments of Sebou Watershed (Top Sebou, Morocco)

“…The average annual evaporation is quite strong in the basin and varies from 1600 mm on the coasts to 2000 mm inwards. The temperatures oscillate between 20 and 30 C and are highest in July and August and lowest in January [10].…”

“…Nutrients and toxic elements from agricultural activities, urban and industrial developments [8] and wild dump leachates [9] are the sources of water pollution. Domestic and industrial waters are usually discharged into rivers and spilled on the land untreated [10,11]. Artisanal workers and mining processes are another sources of these contaminants [12,13] in the Sebou river.…”

Avaliação qualitativa do risco de poluição por metais potencialmente tóxicos nos sedimentos do empreendimento hidrelétrico de Foz do Rio Claro

“…São indiscutíveis as importâncias e os papéis que desempenham os empreendimentos hidráulicos, seja para abastecimento, como irrigação, ou para a geração de energia elétrica. No entanto, este tipo de empreendimento altera toda a dinâmica fluvial do curso d'água, e altera o transporte dos sedimentos, que são depositados em maior proporção nos reservatórios, e, com eles, os metais potencialmente tóxicos (MPT), de origem natural ou antrópica (ABRID et al, 2014;GAIDOUMI et al, 2019;SOJKA et al,. 2019).…”

“…Os MPT mais perigosos ambientalmente incluem Cromo (Cr), Níquel (Ni), Cobre (Cu), Zinco (Zn), Cádmio (Cd), Chumbo (Pb), Mercúrio (Hg), e a transferência desses elementos para os organismos aquáticos e terrestres tem implicações importantes para a biodiversidade (POLETO e MERTEN, 2008;GAIDOUMI et al, 2019;ALI et al, 2019).…”