Concentrations of Lead, Copper and Zinc in the Bottom Sediments of Tuba Island Waters of Langkawi, Malaysia

B. Y. Kamaruzzaman*, N. T. Shuhada, M. S. Zahir, B. Akbar John S. Shahbudin, K. C. A.  Alal, S. M. Al-Barwani and J. S. Goddard

¹Institute of Oceanography and Maritime Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia, Bandar Indera Mahkota, 25200 Kuantan, Pahang Malaysia. ²Department of Marine Science and Fisheries, Sultan Qaboos University,

ABSTRACT:

Surface sediments were collected from Pulau Tuba (9 sampling points) has been analyzed for Pb, Cu and Zn by using the sensitive Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). In this study, the average concentration of Pb, Cu and Zn were 43.28±8.95μg.g-1 dry weights, 8.79±2.72 μg.g^-1 dry weights and 63.5 μg.g-1 dry weights, respectively. In this study, the statistical analysis for Pearson correlation matrix has proved that there are significant relationship between the metal concentration and the grain size. Theconcentration of Pb, Cu and Zn increased with the decreased of mean size particles, suggest that there are association with the fine fraction of the sediments. In order to assess the influence of heavy metals pollution precisely, enrichment factor (EF) were calculated. Inthis study, all elements are about unity and considered to be dominantly terrigenous in origin.

KEYWORDS:

surface sediments; lead; copper; zinc; enrichment factor

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Copy the following to cite this article: Kamaruzzaman B. Y, Shuhada N. T, Zahir M. S, John B. A, Shahbudin S, Alal K. C. A, Al-Barwani S. M, Goddard J. S. Concentrations of Lead, Copper and Zinc in the Bottom Sediments of Tuba Island Waters of Langkawi, Malaysia. Orient J Chem 2011;27.

Copy the following to cite this URL: Kamaruzzaman B. Y, Shuhada N. T, Zahir M. S, John B. A, Shahbudin S, Alal K. C. A, Al-Barwani S. M, Goddard J. S. Concentrations of Lead, Copper and Zinc in the Bottom Sediments of Tuba Island Waters of Langkawi, Malaysia. Orient J Chem 2011;27(2). Available from: http://www.orientjchem.org/?p=24840