Review of the Sedimentological and Geochemical Approaches for Environmental Assessment of River Sadong, Samarahan-Asajaya District Sarawak, Malaysia

This paper presents an overview of the implication of geomorphology and sedimentology on the chemical characteristics of sediments of River Sadong, Malaysia. There is limited published work on the effect of topography, climate, soil and geology on the sediments lying in the River Sadong. Studies have been undertaken around Kota Samarahan and Asajaya areas whereby some heavy metal constituents and their environmental effects were determined. The study entails the description of the depositional processes alonggside with physical and geochemical changes, without neglecting natural and anthropogenic effects

Vertical Profile Of Heavy Metal Concentration In Sediments From Sadong River, Sarawak, Malaysia

Several sources of heavy metals in the environment include biological, geochemical, geological and anthropogenic sources. A total of eighteen core sediments were taken from Sadong river, Sarawak, Malaysia. These samples were digested by acid extraction and thereafter subjected to atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). This paper aims to determine the vertical profile of heavy metals in core sediments, infer the accumulation history and assess the possible sources of pollution. The results showed that Fe was the most abundant element while Cd had the lowest concentration. Sediment pollution assessment was carried out for the top layer using geoaccumulation index (Igeo), enrichment factor and contamination factor. EF values showed moderate to significant enrichment of heavy metals

Distribution and Sources of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons in Sediments from Sadong River, Sarawak, Malaysia

Twenty-one surface sediment samples collected from Sadong River, Sarawak were analysed for aliphatic hydrocarbons. These hydrocarbons were recovered from sediment by Soxhlet extraction and then analysed using gas chromatography equipped with mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The sediments collected from Sadong River have high concentrations of total aliphatic hydrocarbons which ranged from 310.41 to 1296.43 g/g. Evaluation of various n-alkane indices such carbon preference index (CPI: 1.32 to 1.98) and average chain length (ACL: 26.26-27.19) showed that there was a predominance of petrogenic sources of n-alkanes in the river and biogenic origin n-alkanes from vascular plants. The petrogenic source of n-alkanes are predominantly heavy and degraded oil with fresh oil inputs. It is believed that the hydrocarbons originated from both natural and anthropogenic sources. The hydrocarbons were mostly transferred by lateral input than atmospheric movements

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals Spiked Soil by Polyscias fruticose

This study was to assess the phytoremediation potential of Polyscias fruticose in the removal of heavy metals from spiked soil. P. fruticose cuttings were transplanted then grown on 2.00 kg soil spiked with several heavy metals in polyethylene bags. The experiment was conducted for 300 days and concentrations of heavy metals in plant and soil over the growth period were determined. Appreciable concentrations of heavy metals in P. fruticose parts were obtained. The indices used to show the ease of heavy metals uptake and translocation indicated that Co, Cr, Mn, Ni and Pb displayed the greatest ease of absorption while Zn, Fe and Cu were accumulated in the root but not translocated to the shoot. The results obtained shows that this study pioneered the use of P. fruticose in the phytoremediation of several heavy metals spiked soil at a greenhouse level

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals and Hydrocarbons from Spiked and Abandoned Landfill Soils by Polyscias fruticosa and Acalypha wilkesiana Plants

Phytoremediation is a plant-based remediation process for treating contaminated soils. The overall aim of this project was to determine the potential of Polyscias fruticosa and Acalypha wilkesiana for the phytoextraction of soil spiked with a heavy metals solution and to evaluate their capability in the phytodegradation of soil spiked with crude oil. The real application of these plants was then tested using landfill soil. A solution containing seventeen (17) heavy metals obtained from Perkin Elmer Pure Atomic Spectroscopy Standard (ISO 9001) was spiked to the soil samples. Ten heavy metals arsenic (As), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were selected for this study due to their availability hollow cathode lamps and easy detection. All samples from the plants and soils were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The concentration of five (5) toxic heavy metals accumulated in the root of A. wilkesiana ranged between 1.71-4.08, 4.93-16.31, 16.44-27.24, 4.11-9.36 and 4.74-11.25 mg/kg for Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and As, respectively. While the concentration of these toxic heavy metals in the root of P. fruticosa ranged between 1.85-4.67, 9.09-17.33, 16.71- 25.01, 8.22-16.42 mg/kg for Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and As, respectively. P. fruticosa accumulated higher concentration of these toxic heavy metals on all the harvesting periods compared to A. wilkesiana. Similar trends were also observed for other five heavy metals (Co, Mn, Ni, Fe and Zn). These results suggested that these two plants could be used in heavy metals phytoremediation of contaminated soil. The overall accumulation of heavy metals by both plants on last harvesting period follow the trend Fe> Zn> Mn> Cu> Pb> Cr> Co> Ni> As> Cd, and Fe> Cu> Mn> Zn> Cr> Ni> Co> As> Cd, for P. fruticosa and A. wilkesiana, respectively. The capability of P. fruticosa and A. wilkesiana to phytoremediate the soil spiked with crude oil from Miri Sarawak was also investigated. Plants were removed from the soil on the harvesting period of 2 to 10 months and analysed for aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), respectively. Both plants absorbed and translocated AHs and PAHs within the harvesting period. The absorption of n-alkanes carbon (C14) to carbon (C33) by P. fruticosa and A. wilkesiana was increased with the increase of the harvesting periods. The concentration of AHs and PAHs in the roots and leaf of both plants indicated that these plants can be used for phytodegradation of soil spiked with petroleum hydrocarbons. The potential of P. fruticosa and A. wilkesiana as an accumulator has been investigated by growing these plants on an abandoned landfill soil from Matang, Kuching. Both plants were found to uptake a considerable quantity of heavy metals (As, Pb, Cr, and Cd) and hydrocarbons. The overall findings from this project suggest that phytoremediation could be applied to remediate soil contaminated with heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons using P. fruticosa and A. wilkesiana as accumulators

Geochemistry Examination of Surface Sediments from Sadong River, Sarawak, Malaysia: Validation of ICP-OES Assessment of Selected Heavy Metals Selected Heavy Metals

The dependable analytical method for the assessment of heavy metals of interest (As, Al, Mn, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Cr, Ni, Co, Zn and Pb) in sediments assembled in the Sadong River, Sarawak state of Malaysia was reported. The total acid digestion extraction proceeded by ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry) was used for this reason. The analytical method was validated as well as the implementation of enough quality control activities in order to supply reliable information. Duplicate analysis was estimated in order to achieve the precision reproducibility conditions. To determine the accuracy of the results certified reference material was used. The limits of detection and quantification for all selected metals were below the acceptable limits in the examined sediment samples. The acquired dependable information could be used for evaluations of the correlation between anthropogenic activity in the aged and the geochemical characteristics of the sediments

Accumulation and Translocation of Heavy Metals by Acalypha wilkesiana Parts in the Phytoextraction of Contaminated Soil

This study was to investigate survival, growth and accumulation potential of Acalypha wilkesiana in phytoextraction of heavy metals contaminated soil. Acalypha wilkesiana was tested to evaluate its tolerance and phytoextraction capacity in soils contaminated with metals. It was tested under 10 mL of 100 mg/kg of As, Cr, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn solution, along 240 days in greenhouse experiment with harvesting period of 60 days interval. Twenty four cuttings from Acalypha wilkesiana were subjected to the same treatment. Plants roots stem and leaves were dry-digested and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Results show that Fe was the most accumulated metal followed by Cu, Mn, As and Zn with 5002.4, 542.7, 492.2, 396.7 and 308.2 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of Cr, Ni, and Co was 101.2, 99.09, and 89.63mg/kg respectively. The highest concentration of Pb was 46.44 mg/kg, Cd was not detected by the plant. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) of metals were above unity in root, stem, and leaf except for Fe which showed a value below the unity, and Pb shows highest BF value of 7.79. The Translocation Factor (TF) of Cr, Co, Fe, Ni, and Pb were higher, while that of As, Cu, Mn, and Zn were below the unity, Co showed the highest value of 15.93. Furthermore, Extraction Coefficient (EC) of Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb were greater than 1, while for remaining metals were lower than unity, the highest EC was observed from Pb with a value 17.21

Accumulation and Translocation of Heavy Metals by <i>Acalypha wilkesiana</i> Parts in the Phytoextraction of Contaminated Soil

This study was to investigate survival, growth and accumulation potential of Acalypha wilkesiana in phytoextraction of heavy metals contaminated soil. Acalypha wilkesiana was tested to evaluate its tolerance and phytoextraction capacity in soils contaminated with metals. It was tested under 10 mL of 100 mg/kg of As, Cr, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn solution, along 240 days in greenhouse experiment with harvesting period of 60 days interval. Twenty four cuttings from Acalypha wilkesiana were subjected to the same treatment. Plants roots stem and leaves were dry-digested and analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Results show that Fe was the most accumulated metal followed by Cu, Mn, As and Zn with 5002.4, 542.7, 492.2, 396.7 and 308.2 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of Cr, Ni, and Co was 101.2, 99.09, and 89.63mg/kg respectively. The highest concentration of Pb was 46.44 mg/kg, Cd was not detected by the plant. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) of metals were above unity in root, stem, and leaf except for Fe which showed a value below the unity, and Pb shows highest BF value of 7.79. The Translocation Factor (TF) of Cr, Co, Fe, Ni, and Pb were higher, while that of As, Cu, Mn, and Zn were below the unity, Co showed the highest value of 15.93. Furthermore, Extraction Coefficient (EC) of Cr, Co, Ni, and Pb were greater than 1, while for remaining metals were lower than unity, the highest EC was observed from Pb with a value 17.21