The Evaluation of Heavy Metals Pollution in the Surface Sediments of Mahabadchai River

River sediments are one of the most important environmental indicators to determine the level of pollution in ecosystems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of Mahabad river sediments in West Azerbaijan province.

For this purpose, 15 samples of surface sediments (from 0-20 cm depth) of the river were collected. Physical and chemical properties of sediments including: texture, organic matter, Total neutralizing Value, electrical conductivity, pH, and total amount of heavy metals was measured. Correlation between physical and chemical properties of sediments with heavy metals was performed using Pearson correlation test in SPSS software.

Mean total concentrations of heavy metals including arsenic, nickel, zinc, cadmium, lead, cobalt, chromium and copper, were respectively 13.29, 63.40, 60.53, 0.47, 0.39, 18.40, 44.47 and 25.93 mg / kg. Arsenic, nickel and cadmium had higher levels of standard concentrations of heavy metals in sediments. According to the results of Pearson correlation coefficient, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, clay and silt have the most significant positive correlation with the distribution of heavy metals. On the other hand, except for copper, chromium and cobalt, all other elements show a significant positive correlation of 99%. The results showed that all the elements have the same origin.

According to the separation of upstream and downstream samples, it can be said that the concentration of elements in the upstream was due to natural factors, and downstream, heavy metal pollution has increased with increasing human activity.