An Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination in Marine Sediments

Precautionary Measures for Environmental Impact Management at Harbor Development: Galle Harbor Sri Lanka

抄録

Marine sediments of inner Galle harbor, Sri Lanka were analyzed for nine heavy metals before commencement of the harbor development activities. Microwave digestion and slurry preparation methods were adopted for sample preparation in order to investigate the best and convenient methods for the total metal recoveries. Microwave digestion procedure exhibits higher metal recoveries of which concentrations of Pb and Ni at some locations and Hg at all the locations exceed ISQG lower trigger values (Pb - 50 mg/kg, Ni - 21 mg/kg, Hg - 0.15 mg/kg). The results confirmed heavy metal pollution of all the locations studied while the most polluted locations belong to navigational areas and closer to city canal outlet.