Metal pollution assessment of sediment and water resources consumption to Batek Tribe in Merapoh, Pahang

This study aims to evaluate the distributions of metal elements in water and sediments sampled from Merapoh, Pahang. There were 6 sampling stations were selected at two sampling areas and three replication measurements were conducted for the collected samples each sampling stations. The concentrations of heavy metal in those samples were determined using the Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) with acid digestion method which has been verified with a certified reference material which is the sy-4 Diorite Gneiss. The result revealed that the metal variability in the water body and sediment mostly originated from human activities around the sampling sites, in addition to natural variations. In general, the results indicate that the total metal level is ordered as: sediment > water based on metal concentrations found. Sediments are suitable for monitoring long-term metal deposition in the aquatic system due to its capability to concentrate heavy metal and generally concentration of heavy metal in sediment is less variable than in the water body. The result obtained from comparison with Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs) and Geoaccumulation Index indices, revealed that the metal variability in the water body and sediment samples in this study shows there were within the permissible limit. Metal pollution mostly occurs due to human activities near the sampling sites.