The aim of this study was to determine the possible build up of heavy metals （Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn） in the Sakumo lagoon, a Ramsar site situated 3 km west of Tema, an industrial town in Ghana. To achieve this, surf...The aim of this study was to determine the possible build up of heavy metals （Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn） in the Sakumo lagoon, a Ramsar site situated 3 km west of Tema, an industrial town in Ghana. To achieve this, surface sediments were collected from three sections designated as south, centre and north of the lagoon. Sampling was done for a period of six months （September 2007 to February 2008） and concentrations of the heavy metals （Pb, Cu, Mn, Fe and Zn） in the sediments were determined using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results were compared with the mean concentrations of these metals from a study carried out on the same lagoon in 2003. It was observed that concentrations of these heavy metals in the sediments showed a significant increase over the 2003 levels except for lead where a decrease was observed. The metals also showed spatially large variation from south to north. The spatial variations in concentrations indicate the different absorption capacities of the sediments in the lagoon, a phenomenon which shows that recent anthropogenic heavy metal pollution had occurred. Statistical analysis also showed significant correlation between Pb and Cu （0.968） at 0.01 confidence level and between Cu and Zn （0.869） at 0.05 confidence level.展开更多
文摘The aim of this study was to determine the possible build up of heavy metals （Pb, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn） in the Sakumo lagoon, a Ramsar site situated 3 km west of Tema, an industrial town in Ghana. To achieve this, surface sediments were collected from three sections designated as south, centre and north of the lagoon. Sampling was done for a period of six months （September 2007 to February 2008） and concentrations of the heavy metals （Pb, Cu, Mn, Fe and Zn） in the sediments were determined using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results were compared with the mean concentrations of these metals from a study carried out on the same lagoon in 2003. It was observed that concentrations of these heavy metals in the sediments showed a significant increase over the 2003 levels except for lead where a decrease was observed. The metals also showed spatially large variation from south to north. The spatial variations in concentrations indicate the different absorption capacities of the sediments in the lagoon, a phenomenon which shows that recent anthropogenic heavy metal pollution had occurred. Statistical analysis also showed significant correlation between Pb and Cu （0.968） at 0.01 confidence level and between Cu and Zn （0.869） at 0.05 confidence level.
