Assessment of heavy metal contamination in water and sediments of Bertam River in Cameron Highlands and its association with ecological and health risks
Rampant land clearing for agriculture, urbanization, development of hotel and residential areas have rapidly altered the land use setting of Cameron Highlands. Unsustainable development and encroachment of river reserve areas have continuously deteriorated the Bertam River quality. The polluta...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/85471/1/FPSK%28m%29%202020%2019%20IR.pdf |
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| Summary: | Rampant land clearing for agriculture, urbanization, development of hotel and
residential areas have rapidly altered the land use setting of Cameron Highlands.
Unsustainable development and encroachment of river reserve areas have
continuously deteriorated the Bertam River quality. The pollutants from Bertam
River also may flow to downstream river network that serves as raw water sources
for water treatment plants. Thus, it increases the potential health risk to the
population downstream. This study aimed to assess heavy metal contamination in
water and sediments of Bertam River in Cameron Highlands and its association
with ecological and health risks. The differences in water quality status between
Upper and Lower stations as well as seasonal changes were determined. The
concentration of aluminium (Al), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron
(Fe), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in water and sediment samples were tested via
Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The results showed
that all studied physicochemical parameters were generally higher at the Lower
stations. For example, in the wet season, the turbidity at the Lower stations (191.72
± 139.78 NTU) was recorded higher than the Upper area (55.77 ± 147.55 NTU).
Similarly, total suspended solids (TSS) was higher in the Lower area (158.07 ±
107.71 mg/L) compared to the Upper area (43.98 ± 78.97 mg/L). All
physicochemical parameters were within the Malaysian National Drinking Water
Quality Standards (NDWQS) except for turbidity, ammoniacal-nitrogen (NH3-N)
and Escherichia coli (E. coli). The heavy metal distribution in Upper and Lower
stations was varied. Elements such as Iron (Fe), Al, Cu, and Zn were the most
prominent and were higher during the wet season. The overall mean concentration
of Cd, Fe and Pb exceeded the NDWQS. Seasonal changes do influence some of
the river water properties such as dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity and total
suspended solids (TSS) where they were significantly higher during the wet
season. The contamination factor (CF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and pollution
load index (PLI) showed low ecological risk from a bioavailable fraction of heavy metal in the sediment of Bertam River. As for health risk, the carcinogenic risk of
Cd in male adult (3.05 x 10-3), female adult (2.97 x 10-3) and children (4.91 x 10-3)
were >10-4 which indicates an unacceptable carcinogenic risk. Three main
potential pollution sources contributed to river water deterioration in this study were
the artificial phosphate fertilizer and agrochemical products, soil erosion and land
clearing. While the potential pollution sources in sediment were anthropogenic
activities such as agriculture and sand dredging, soil erosion and the adsorption
with soil mineral oxides. In conclusion, heavy metal in river and sediment samples
were generally low and within acceptable risk to human and ecology except for
Cd. Findings from this study have improved our understanding of how the
agricultural activities and land use changes could interfere with the ecological
niche particularly river networks in this area. |
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