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Research Article

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Heavy Metals Contamination in Recent Sediments from Barigui River Basin, South Brazil

Karina Scurupa Machado1*, Paulo AI Ferreira2, Juliane Rizzi3, Rubens Figueira2and Sandro Froehner4

1Department of Production Engineering, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-PR, 81531-980, Brazil

2Oceanographic Institute, University of São Paulo, Oceanographic Square, 191, São Paulo-SP, 05508-120, Brazil

3Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-PR, 81531-980, Brazil

4Department of Environmental Engineering, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-PR, 81531-980, Brazil

*Corresponding Author:
Karina Scurupa Machado
Department of Production Engineering
Federal University of Parana, Curitiba-PR
81531-980, Brazil
Tel: +55 41 995115715
E-mail: ksmachado@hotmail.com

Received date: November 14, 2016; Accepted date: January 11, 2017; Published date: January 18, 2017

Citation: Machado KS, Al Ferreira PA, Rizzi J, Figueira R, Froehner S (2017) Spatial and Temporal Variation of Heavy Metals Contamination in Recent Sediments from Barigui River Basin, South Brazil. Environ Pollut Climate Change 1:108.

Copyright: © 2017 Machado KS, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

Heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Mn and Zn) and artificial radionuclides (137Cs and 210Pb) were investigated in three sediment cores from the Barigui river Basin, South Brazil, in order to reconstruct the spatial and temporal evolution of the pollution by heavy metals. According to the reference standards established by the Canadian quality guidelines, the area presents levels of pollution considered significant. Enrichment factors (EFs) were calculated to estimate the level of contamination in these sediment storages over time. EFs showed a steady increase from bottom to core top throughout the years and this pattern is present in all cores. The magnitude of the EFs suggests that higher contamination is observed in the central and lower parts of the basin, due to regional history and geographic characteristics. The evolution of the contamination by heavy metals is more intense as from the middle of the 19th due to the high demographic, economic and industrial growth in the region. This study clearly contributes to understand when the anthropogenic activities became harmful for the environment in South Brazil, which events were more significant and which parts of the studied area were more affected.

Keywords

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