Levels of potentially toxic metals in water, sediment and peat from Wonderfonteinspruit, North West Province, South Africa.
Environmental monitoring of the levels of potentially toxic metals is of importance because of possible adverse effects on living species. This study was conducted to assess the levels of Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, U and V in water, sediment and peat samples collected from the region of Wonderfonteinspruit. Water samples were simply filtered and acidified with HNO3 prior to analysis. Sediment and peat were oven-dried, ground, sieved and mineralised using a microwave digestion system. Concentrations of the selected elements in all samples were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. A Zeeman mercury analyser was also used for quantification of Hg in the same sediment and peat samples. The method validation was carried out using SRM 1643e water and BCR 320R sediment certified reference materials. The results showed no significant difference at 95% level of confidence between the certified and measured values after using the Student's t-test. The levels of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, V and U found in rivers and dams were lower than the tentative South African water quality range guideline for domestic and irrigation purposes. However, water from dams and certain rivers was unsuitable for irrigation and domestic use.
['Nsaka|Ntumba C|NC|', 'McCrindle|Robert I|RI|', 'Ambushe|Abayneh A|AA|']
D004784:Environmental Monitoring D019015:Geologic Sediments D006801:Humans D008628:Mercury D008670:Metals D019216:Metals, Heavy D045483:Rivers D012987:Soil D013019:South Africa D014867:Water D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical D060753:Water Quality
Potentially toxic metals water sediment peat Wonderfonteinspruit