Determination of selected metals in sediment from Terengganu and Nerus river

Rivers are dominant pathway for trace metals transport. Due to massive anthropogenic activities along Kuala Terengganu and Nerus River, the degree of pollution on surface sediment would increase. The purpose of this study was to determine the selected metals in sediment together with assessing the metal pollution in sediment at Kuala Terengganu and Nerus River. The study about trace metals in sediments were scarce in Malaysia. The sediments location were determine using Global Positioning System (GPS) and the sediments were collected 2 km for each point with 4 cm depth. At Kuala Terengganu and Nerus River, five and three sample of sediments were collected and have been analysed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) instrument. The mean concentration of all elements found (mg/g) namely Mn, Fe, Al, Zr, Ca, P, Ti, S, Cl, K and Si were 1.8, 353.4, 152.9, 2.8, 6.6, 9.6, 20.2, 25.4, 24.7, 80.7 and 305.9 respectively. The sediment assessment using Enrichment Factor (EF) indicated Fe, Zr, P, S, and Cl originated from anthropogenic sources and the rest of other elements comes from natural sources. The overall results of Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) showed the rivers were level of strongly to extremely polluted by elements S and Cl. Moreover, the Pollution Load Index (PLI) of all elements were classified as polluted except for Ca and Si. However the Si is slightly polluted at Kuala Terengganu River. The statistical analysis using Kruskal-Wallis H test proved there were significant different for all elements at Kuala Terengganu and Nerus River. As a conclusion, sediments in this study were contaminated mostly from anthropogenic activity along the river. The recommendation for this study were identify the Total Organic Carbon (TOC), dating of sediment core, determine the water quality and benthic organism as well as identify the concentration of elements during dry and wet season.