DISTRIBUTION OF SOME HEAVY METALS IN SEDIMENTS AND WATER IN TIGRIS RIVER
ABDUL HAMEED M. J. AL-OBAIDY
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
ZAHRAA Z. AL-JANABI *
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
ATHMAR A. M. AL-MASHHADY
Environmental Research Center, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Tigris River is surrounded by industrial plants, urban and agricultural activities. So, for this reason this study conducted was determine the amount of some heavy metals; Zinc, Copper, Cadmium, Chromium and Lead in both, water and Sediments of the Tigris River and to identify potential pollution. Three sample sites were chosen, the first one (S1) was located at North of Baghdad before the entrance of the river into the city, this site is considered as the control site, and the second site (S2) is positioned in the middle part of the city, while the third site (S3) is located in the southern part. Subsurface water and sediments samples were collected from the middle of the Tigris River during 2013-2014 from each site. Based on the experimental results, the site (S3) was more polluted than other sites which reflect an increasing of pollutant trend from upstream to downstream.
Keywords: Heavy metals, pollution index, water; sediments, Tigris River