Abstract
My aim of this study is to determine the concentration of heavy metals in surface sediments collected from Naha port and Tomari port in Okinawa, Japan, to establish the forms in which the metals exist in the sediments by carrying out a sequential extraction procedure on the sediments and to determine if the levels can be considered to be a threat to the aquatic organisms in the water. Since heavy metals are stable and persistent contaminants of coastal environments and their presence in the aquatic ecosystem has a far reaching implications directly to the biota and indirectly to man, there is a need to monitor their concentrations to ensure that they are below the toxic levels.
