Heavy metal and metalloid contamination in the sediments of the Spekboom River, South Africa

Abstract

The impact of anthropogenic activities such as mining, agriculture and urbanization is causing heavy metal contamination in many freshwater ecosystems. The concentrations of eight elements (As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the Spekboom River, South Africa, were studied using enrichment factor (EF) and geo-accumulation index (Igeo) to assess the extent of pollution in the river. Sediment samples were collected and analyzed using sequential inductively coupled plasma—optical emission spectrometry. The results showed deterioration of the sediment quality with high concentration of Cr and Ni at all the sites, this is a reflection of contamination from the various anthropogenic activities in the area. The current levels of Cr and Ni could be detrimental to the river and may pose a serious threat to the aquatic organisms and humans, as the sediment could act as a secondary source of metal pollution in the water. It is therefore recommended that urgent action should be taken to control effluents from anthropogenic activities to the river in order to prevent further pollution.

Sediment-associated heavy metal contamination and potential ecological risk along an urban river in South Africa

“…The CF assesses the level of contamination by a given metal compared to pre-industrial reference levels ( Hakanson, 1980 ). However, various studies used measured heavy metal baseline values from an area with geologically similar material (control) ( Siddiquee et al., 2012 ) or average crustal composition ( Addo-Bediako et al., 2021 ). This index is defined by Hakanson (1980) as follows: where C (metal) is the concentration of the heavy metal of interest measured at a particular site.…”

“…In South Africa, sediment contamination by heavy metals is increasingly being investigated in the context of water quality and ecological studies ( Abia et al., 2015 ; Addo-Bediako et al., 2021 ; Dahms et al., 2017 ; Dalu et al., 2017 ; Edokpayi et al., 2017 , 2022 ). The focus of studies in South Africa has been on urban areas, ecologically sensitive waterways and wetlands, and regions with a strong anthropogenic influence from mining and agriculture.…”

Sediment load prediction in Johor river: deep learning versus machine learning models

“…When sediments flow through a fluid medium, often rivers and streams, due to a combination of forces acting on them, such as gravity and fluid movement, they are transported along the streams (Addo-Bediako et al 2021;Kuriqi et al 2020). The three commonly known modes of sediment movement are bed load, suspended load, and dissolved load.…”