Evaluation of pollution in Amir-kalayeh wetland sediment using geochemical analyses

The pollution of aquatic ecosystems by heavy metals is a global issue and one of the main problems in aquatic ecosystems, including wetlands. For this reason, examining the pollution in Amir-Kalayeh wetland was considered as the main goal of this study. In the current research, this wetland was studied in terms of the origin of the contamination, contamination factor, pollution load index, enrichment factor, and geo-accumulation index of elements to evaluate the distribution of heavy metals in the sediments of the area under study. For this purpose, 12 samples were taken from the surface sediments of the wetland from locations that represent the whole wetland and the concentrations of elements such as Al, Fe, Mg, P, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V and Zn in the sediments were measured. Then, using statistical methods such as Pearson correlation coefficient, cluster analysis and factor analysis, the natural or anthropogenic origin of these elements were determined. According to the results, As, Cd, Mn, Mo, Ni, And Pb have contamination factors over one, which means they have contaminated the area. that is probably caused by agricultural pesticides and Amir-Kalayeh wetland, except for the pollution by agricultural fertilizers, is a fairly clean wetland, with no pollution from domestic and industrial wastes.