Assessment of Heavy Metals Pollution in Sediment of Shatt Al-Hilla by Using Ecological Indices

Abstract

Surficial sediment samples were collected from four stations at Shatt Al-Hilla from Western Zoer area to Almaimirh in Babylon province for the period from August 2016 to April 2017.The level of contamination in the sediments of Shatt Al-Hilla, by Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Nickle (Ni), Manganese (Mn), Zinc (Zn), Arsenic (As), and Cobalt (Co) has been evaluated using the index of Geo-accumulation (I-Geo), Contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI) and Potential ecological risk index (Eire). In the present study the levels of heavy metals in sediment samples were found in the range of (10-15.22 ppm) for Pb, (25.6-46.09 ppm) for Cu,(144.9-413.7 ppm) for Ni, (666.1- 906.3 ppm) for Mn, (68.69- 119.2 ppm) for Zn, for As (5.22- 8.25 ppm) and for Co (10.3- 68.44 ppm). The values of the Pollution Load Index (PLI) were founded at station 1 unpolluted by whole studied heavy metals, while the (PLI) value at other stations 2, 3 and 4 were more than 1 which means that polluted by heavy metals. According to contamination factor (CF), station 1 considered as moderate contamination by Ni, while the station 2, 3 and 4considered as considerable contamination by Ni, while all stations were low contamination by Zn and Co. Depending on the results of Geoaccumulation index (I-Geo) all stations considered slightly polluted by Ni, while station 1 and 2 considered slightly polluted by Co. The values of the Pollution Load Index (PLI) were varied between unpolluted in station 1 and polluted in other studied stations. The values of the Potential Ecological Risk (Eir) and (RI) for all heavy metals indicated that these metals do not pose a threat to the environment in the study area.