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BIOMONITORING OF Ni, V, Th, Cr and Fe DEPOSITION AROUND KERTEH

PETROLEUM INDUSTRIAL REGION and ANALYSED BY EDXRF TECHNIQUE
(Pemonitoran biologi enapan Ni, V, Th, Cr dan Fe di sekit...

Article · July 2010

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 BIOMONITORING OF Ni, V, Th, Cr and Fe DEPOSITION AROUND KERTEH
PETROLEUM INDUSTRIAL REGION and ANALYSED BY EDXRF
TECHNIQUE
(Pemonitoran biologi enapan Ni, V, Th, Cr dan Fe di sekitar kawasan industri petroleum
Kerteh dan analisis teknik EDXRF)

Mohd Zahari Abdullah @ Rafie 1, Ahmad Saat2, Zaini Hamzah2

1
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 24600Pahang, MALAYSIA
2
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA,40450 Shah Alam, MALAYSIA

*Corresponding author email: [email protected]

Abstract
Biomonitoring of multielement atmospheric deposition using terrestrial moss is a well-established technique in Europe.
Although the technique is widely known, there are very limited records of using this technique to study atmospheric air
pollution in this country. In this present study, the deposition of five heavy metals (petroleum refinery correlated
elements) surround the main petroleum refinery plant in Kerteh Terengganu is determined using moss species of
Hypnum Plumaeforme and Tazithelium Instratum as biomonitors. Moss samples have been collected at 15 sampling
locations along south-southwest area up to 20 km in the northern part of the petroleum industrial area. The content of
heavy metal in moss samples were studied by EDXRF technique. Distribution of heavy metal content in all mosses is
presented in maps. Areas of the highest level of contaminations are highlighted.

Abstrak
Pengesanan bio bagi pelbagai unsur enapan atmosfera menggunakan moss terrestrial adalah kaedah yang sudah
diterima di Eropah. Walau pun teknik ini telah banyak digunakan di Eropah, terdapat terlalu sedikit rekod yang
menunjukkan teknik ini telah digunakan untuk kajian pencemaran udara di negara ini. Di dalam kajian ini, enapan lima
unsur logam berat (unsur berkaitan dengan penulinan petroleum) di sekitar kilang penapisan dan penulenan petroleum
di Kertih Terengganu telah ditentukan menggunakan spesis moss Hypnum Plumaeforme dan Tazithelium Instratum
sebagai pengesan bio. Sampel moss telah diambil di 15 lokasi persampelan di sepanjang kawasan selatan dan tenggara
Kerteh sehingga 20 km di bahagian utara. Kandungan logam berat dalam sampel moss telah dianalisis menggunakan
teknik EDXRF. Taburan logam berat di dalam sampel moss ditunjukkan secara pemetaan “contour map”. Kawasan
yang mempunyai tahap pencemaran yang tinggi juga ditandakan.

Keywords: heavy metals, petroleum industrial area, mosses, biomonitoring, EDXRF

Introduction
Pollution by heavy metals and radionuclide over large areas and long periods of time may cause chronic
damage to living organisms and must be carefully controlled. One way to determine the extent of
environmental pollution is by measuring the levels of contaminants in plants. The use of mosses as
pollution indicator is a convenient method to determine levels of atmospheric deposition, as terrestrial
mosses obtain most of their mineral elements directly from precipitation and dry deposition of airborne
particles. Mosses therefore received increasing and globally attention as a suitable tool for monitoring
regional patterns of elemental deposition in various countries. The moss method have been used either in
the areas closed to industrial installations as well as in areas not expected to be contaminated [1, 2]. This
method is also a useful tool for deposition measurement in the vicinity of stationary sources [3].

Methods based on the use of mosses as a tool for surveying heavy metal deposition were developed in
Sweden at the end of the 1960s [4]. Biomonitoring using moss is a well developed technique employed in
many part of the world to assess the concentrations of trace elements in the atmosphere and their potential
sources. The suitability of the mosses Hypnum Plumaeforme and Tazithelium Instratum known as the best
biomonitor of atmospheric trace elements pollution in several biomonitoring studies [5, 6].

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Primitive plants such as mosses have either poorly-developed or non-existed root system and therefore
absorb most of their nutrients directly from surrounding atmosphere, via either wet or dry deposition. The
lack of a thick cuticle promotes the migration of heavy metals and other elements to free cation exchange
sites located on the walls of the cells in mosses. Mosses required small amounts of heavy metals, e.g. Zn
and Cu, for their metabolic functioning. Air pollution has a considerable effect on the element concentration
in mosses. The absorption efficiency of mosses for heavy metals is affected by the proportion of free cation
exchange sites, the form in which the heavy metals are present in deposition, ion exchange reactions and
leaching. Furthermore, heavy metals and other cations also compete for the same cation exchange sites [7].

Passive monitoring method by using lower plants as a medium to trace heavy metal contamination in
ambient air have been considered as a most suitable technique because procedures of sampling and
chemical analysis are relatively simple and cheap. They are evergreen and perennial plants, so it is easy to
collect them throughout the year. Most of their species are widespread, thus heavy metal concentrations of
distant areas can be compared [8]. A successful studies using mosses as bioindicators was initiated by
Steinnes and his group [9].

Mosses have been used in large-scale surveys especially in Europe. During the past few decades the heavy
metal emission has decreased but those in Asia have increased. As a result, heavy metal studies have
focused on those heavy metals that are readily transported over long distances, such as Hg, Cd, Pb, Cr etc.

The use of plant materials as bioindicators of the degree of pollution with metallic elements in
environmental monitoring studies is widespread. In such study, conclusions are drawn on the basis of an
examination of a large number of samples. Hence, it is important that the analytical procedures and the
measuring technique used should be rapid, reliable, multi-element and simple, without detriment to
appropriate accuracy and precision in analyte concentration determination.

Most of the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques comply with the desired features for the analysis of
plants specimens including the multi-element capability, the possibility to perform qualitative, semi
quantitative and quantitative determinations, simple sample preparation, a wide dynamic range and low cost
per determination. The recent improvement in the XRF instrumentation such as the development of of
digital signal processing based spectrometers in combination with enlarge X-ray production using better
designs for excitation detection has added the advantage of increasing instrumental sensitivity, thus
allowing the improvement of both precision and productivity. The latest benchtop spectrometer EDXRF has
been introduced as an ultimate improvement to the previous EDXRF. Like its predecessors, it is safe,
reliable and easy to use. However, with its new silicon drift detector, it is copying with higher maximum
count rates and a better resolution. With these new features the system is capable of achieving lower
detection limits through the whole analytical range.

XRF is considered an ideal means of determining the chemical composition of all kinds of material.
Compared with other analytical techniques, it has the advantages of simple, safe and rapid preparation of
solid, liquid and powdered samples; non-destructive analysis, accuracy, precision, a wide dynamic range
and good to excellent detection limits across large parts of the periodic table. This fact has promoted an
increasing interest of using X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy as an alternative to destructive analytical
methods in the environment field.

In XRF the analytical signal is the intensity of measured characteristic radiation (counts/second), which is
proportional to the mass fraction of the element originating it in the analysed sample. However, this
relationship is not linear in the more general case, since it depends on physical and chemical matrix effects.
Physical matrix effects are the result of variations in the physical characteristics of the sample, including
particle size, uniformity, homogeneity and surface condition. To minimize these effects, a thorough and
consistent sample preparation is crucial. Meanwhile, chemical matrix effects result from differences in
concentrations of interfering elements present in the sample. Plant materials consist mainly of C, N, H and
O ( ~ 98%) which serve as natural diluent for the other elements. As a result, the absorption of the measured
X-rays by the matrix is relatively small compared to rock and soil samples. Nevertheless, due to the widely
variable range of concentration of K, Ca, Cl and other elements in plant samples, in most cases, corrections
for the matrix effects have to be done in order to obtained quantitative results.

2
In this present study, local mosses have been used as a media to assess the concentration level of some
heavy metal and radionuclide Thorium in the focused study area. We strongly believe that the data obtained
will reflect the quality of ambient air in the province of oil refinery and processing area in Kerteh,
Terengganu. In this study, the technique of passive biomonitoring by moss has been applied and the result
obtained are presented in the form of pollution maps for five heavy metals and radionuclide of Ni, Cr, Fe, V
and Th. We do hope that the data obtained in this study would provide a good baseline dataset for future
studies using moss as biomonitor in Malaysia, where data related to heavy metal air pollution in the study
area is still lacking.

Materials and methods

Site location
Samples were collected at fifteen sampling points from around 20 km in the southern part of Petronas
Carigali dan Penapisan (Terengganu) Sdn Bhd (an exploration and refinery plant) up to 20 km toward
northern part of that area. The petrochemical and petroleum industrial area is considered to be the pointed
source of emission to surrounding atmosphere. The nearest sampling point was located about 500m away
from boundary of the industrial province.

Petroleum
Industrial Area

Figure 1: The sampling points scattered along 40 km from Politeknik Dungun in the Northern part and Kemasik in
Southern area.

The industrial area is located in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia within latitude 4o 31’ N and longitude
103o 27’E, with temperate and climate influenced by the southwest monsoon (late May to September) and
the Northeast Monsoon (November to March) that resulting heavy rainfall to the state. The area is generally
fairly hot and humid all year round, with temperature averaging from 28 oC to 30 oC in daytime and slightly
cooler after sunset. The study area and the respective sampling points are shown in Figure 1.

Samples collection
Sampling technique and related procedures were based on the Scandinavian guidelines [8]. In the particular
site where Hypnum Plumaeforme moss species was not available, Taxithelium Instratum moss species were

3
collected. Sampling was performed in a relatively dry season within July and September 2009 to a total of
15 sampling points. In a whole, the sampling areas were covered up to 40 km along northern and southern
part of the petroleum industrial area. The distance of moss sampling area was not evenly distributed
because of geographical problems and the availability of particular moss species that has been chosen in
this study. The position of sampling location details are listed in Table 1.

Table 1: Sampling location and its GPS position.

Sampling Latitude Longitude Distance Sampling Latitude Longitude Distance
station from station from
4o ‘N 103o ‘E Petroleum 4o ‘N 103o ‘E Petroleum
complexes , complexes ,
km km

S1 33’ 24.54 27’ 48.38 2.7 N1 35’ 35.68 27’ 40.94 1.5
S2 32’ 31.64 27’ 54.38 4.0 N3 36’ 31.05 26’ 21.12 3.8
S4 32’ 15.66 27’ 22.38 4.6 N4 37’ 16.01 25’ 57.63 5.2
S6 30’ 25.68 26’ 51.94 8.0 N5 38’ 30.30 26’ 21.6 7.1
S7 28’ 47.00 26’ 18.41 11.0 N6 41’ 19.05 25’ 11.12 15.3
S9 27’ 24.66 26’ 41.38 13.0 N8 46’ 11.28 25’ 10.85 21.3
S10 25’ 55.68 25’ 40.94 16.3
S12 23’ 14.00 23’ 16.41 21.1

The geographic coordinates were determined using GPS. Two zones were established to determine the
significance of differences in heavy metal and thorium concentration in the petroleum industrialization area
(North part up to Dungun and Southern Part down to Kemasik closed to Kijal. The sampling point locations
were situated at least 50 meter away from main roads or buildings. Most of the samples were collected in an
open area and from oil palm estates. At each site a few grams of sample was collected within an area of 50
x 50 m2. The green or greenish-brown parts of the plant were used for further analysis directly without
washing or any other treatments.

A sample (control sample) from rural area and outside of the study region also has been treated and
analyzed with the way as the actual samples.

Analytical technique
All kind of foreign materials adhering to the surface of the samples such as tree bark, lichens, soil dust and
dead materials were removed thoroughly in dry condition. For the analysis, only the green and greenish
brown parts of the moss plants were used, as they generally are intended to represent a period of about 3-5
years growth. Their metal content is generally considered to reflect the atmospheric deposition during that
period (Ruhling and Steinnes, 1998). The samples were then oven dried at 60 oC for 48 hours.

To reduce particle size and satisfy the conditions for homogeneity, the samples were ground in an agate mill
using a grinding time in the range of 3-5 minute. Once moss tissues were powdered and dried, they were
stored in capped polypropylene flasks until analysis. Prior analysis with EDXRF, about 2 spatulas of
powdered moss sample (without the addition of a binder) was pressed at about 20 tons for 30s to obtained
cylindrical pellets and located directly in the X-ray beam of the X-ray spectrometer used for elemental
analysis.

Quantitation method
In general, XRF quantitative analysis is carried out by the calibration curve method, generated from many
calibration standards. However, for mosses samples it is difficult to get the sufficient certified standards,
with similar matrices to the real samples, in order to achieve a good spread of data points over the range of
each element to be determined. However, the use of standards prepared in the laboratory with commercially
available pure elements or compounds has been shown to be efficient for calibration purposes since they are
inexpensive and can be easily prepared. Since mosses samples consists mainly of C, N, H and O (cellulose
matrix), the standard samples (in the form of pellet) have been prepared by dropping about 0.5 ml of
multi-elements standard solution onto a similar pellet size of Whatman 41 (cellulose filter) filter paper. The

4
filter paper then has been dried in dry oven at 40 o C for 12 hr. The calibration curves for all elements have
been developed by using five series of standard samples with five different elemental concentrations. By
doing this approach (using synthetic substrate of cellulose), we hope that it could provide a good means to
simulate the mosses matrix and obtain reliable calibration curves with a good spread of data points over the
range of each element to be determined.

To check the accuracy of the analysis, determination was made of the metal contents of NIST standard
reference material No 1575 (pine needle). The material, in duplicate, was treated in the same manner as the
moss samples. The obtained concentrations for all metals fell within acceptable limits (88.80 % of Ni,
99.21 % of Cr and 109.00 % of Fe).

Statistical Analysis
The paired-sampled t-test was used to compare the distribution of heavy metal contents between northern
and southern part of sampling zones. The t-test can be used to understand the strength and direction
(positive and negative) of relationship between two variables. All p-values calculated based on one-tailed
probability (95 % confidence level). A test for Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r) was used
to check the statistical significance of observed correlation between metal concentrations versus its
sampling location distances from expected source.

Determination of Heavy Metal Concentrations across the Kerteh Petroleum Industrial Area and Its
Surrounding Area
Maps of the distribution of heavy metals deposition were drawn using Surfer 8.0 software. The level of
heavy metals contamination of the investigated area were directly determined from measurements of heavy
metals concentrations in mosses sample taken at 15 sampling station in the northern and southern part of
the Kerteh Petroleum Industry region that covered the distance of 40 km.

Results and Discussion

The analysis of heavy metals and radionuclide concentration levels (Ni, Cr, V, Fe and Th) in moss samples
served as a basis for the evaluation of environmental pollution in the area that are related to petroleum and
petrochemical industries in the state of Terengganu, Malaysia. The area has been considered as the main
petroleum refinery works in the eastern region of Peninsular of Malaysia. The spatial distribution of the
heavy metal pollutants in the sample of mosses collected in the region is illustrated as in Figure 1. For each
element, concentration levels (mg/kg dry wt sample) were distinguished.

The concentration of Ni collected in the northern part of the whole study area in general was found fairly
distributed along the sampling locations route. The Ni content in moss samples were in the range of 1.57 to
6.55 mg/kg sample. The higher concentration of Ni in the Northern part of the study area was recorded at
sampling location N3 situated 4 km from the expected sources area with 6.55 mg/kg sample. Meanwhile
the constant values of Ni were recorded along the rest 4 other sampling locations heading to southern part
(5 to 21 km away).

Meanwhile, in the southern area, the highest concentration of Ni has been recorded at the sampling location
S12 with 4.30 mg/kg sample. The data obtained also shows that the differences of Ni concentrations
between northern and southern sampling locations were not significant (p value = 0.43).

5
 Fe, ppm
Th, ppm
Cr, ppm

Map A Map B Map C

N8
V, ppm Ni, ppm N6
N5
N4
N3
N1
S1
S2
S4
S6
S7
S9
S10
S12

The sequences of sampling station

Map D Map E position north to southern part stated
on the map
Figure 2: Metal concentration within the study area. Maps were drawn using surfer 8 software. Pollutant
concentrations were directly determined from measurements of heavy metal concentration in moss samples. Red spot
indicates the position of Petroleum Industrial Complexes.

The concentration ranges of radionuclide Th along 40 km northern to southern part of the study area were
recorded as 0.191 and 1.289 mg/kg dry wt. The highest Th concentration in northern area has been recorded
at station N8 that is 21.1 km away with 1.289 mg/kg dry wt. and the lowest has been recorded at station N4
which is located about 13 km away with 0.191mg/kg dry wt. Meanwhile, for the southern part, the content
of Th in moss sample has been recorded highest at S10 which is about 17 km away with 0.395 mg/kg dry
wt. and the lowest obtained at S2 with 0.191 mg/kg dry wt. The p-value calculated, 0.47, indicated that
there were no significant differences of the variance (t-test = 0.08) of two set Th radionuclide
concentrations between northern and southern study area (Figure 2- Map C).

For metal V, one of the most important heavy metals that correlated with petroleum refinery activities, the
highest concentration have been recorded with 55.46 mg/kg dry wt. at S12 and 50.99 mg/kg dry wt at N8 in
southern and northern sampling stations respectively. The two sampling locations situated at the distance
about 21 km away from the expected sources region. Meanwhile, the V concentration were observed fairly
moderate for the distances within 4 to 15 km sampling station for both south and north zones with the
concentration ranging from 13.96 to 30.03 mg/kg dry wt. Based on this observation, the prevailing local

6
meteorology has play an importance factor to dispersed away this metal from its sources (Figure 2-Map D).
Because of Malaysia has experiencing two monsoon seasons yearly, it was not impossible for these heavy
metals to be transferred away either to southern and northern part from its original sources.

The highest concentration of Cr element in mosses is observed at sampling station S12 in southern area and
at N8 in northern with 9.86 and 11.99 mg/kg dry wt respectively where these two sampling stations located
about 21 km away from expected industrial area. Generally, the concentration of Cr distributed fairly at all
other sampling stations that ranging within 4.00 to 7.61 mg/kg dry wt. (Figure 2-Map B).

For the metal of Fe, the higher concentration of this metal is monitored at sampling station N8 in the north
and S12 in the south study area with 3130.93 and 2056.99 mg/kg dry wt respectively. The lowest
concentration of Fe was recorded at the distance about 3 km in the south (station S1). The concentration
level of Fe decreased gradually from northern part downing to expected source industrial area with the
concentration recorded ranging from 2016 mg/kg to 1126 mg/kg (Figure 2-Map A).

Kerteh petroleum and petrochemical industries in southern part of Terengganu State was considered as the
vital and fast developed petroleum industries for the state and for the country. Oil industries constitute a
major source of pollutant to the environment especially via liquid discharges and oil spills as well as gas
flaring. Various materials are released into the environment in the course of oil production operations [13].
Refinery activities have been considered as a major source of air pollutants in the immediate area where
they are located and maybe dispersed to a few distance (km) away.

The estimate values for the background concentrations were 2.0 ppm, 1.5 ppm, 400 ppm, 1.6 ppm and
0.267 ppm for V, Cr, Fe, Ni and Th respectively. These values were very typical in mosses in areas that
have a little affected by air pollution in Norway and always been used as background reference [14]. In
order to estimate the anthropogenic impact, contamination factors (CF) have been calculated as the ratio
between the metal contents in moss samples for each sampling location and the corresponding background
concentration (Table 2).

Table 2: Contamination factor (CF) for each element at each sampling station.
Element Distance Ni V Th Cr Fe
(km)
Location
S1 2.7 1.14 12.62 3.56 1.21 1.44
S2 4.0 1.58 15.02 2.49 1.68 3.54
S4 4.6 1.34 11.43 4.36 1.43 1.91
S6 8.0 2.21 22.16 2.95 2.35 2.12
S7 11.0 0.98 10.03 3.31 1.05 3.52
S9 13.0 1.29 11.08 3.64 1.38 3.48
S10 16.3 2.10 14.95 4.94 2.24 4.69
S12 21.1 2.69 27.73 3.10 2.87 5.14
N1 1.5 1.59 12.29 4.39 1.70 3.38
N3 3.8 4.09 6.98 5.01 4.37 2.82
N4 5.2 2.08 7.91 2.39 2.21 4.86
N5 7.1 2.22 19.50 4.00 3.78 5.25
N6 15.3 2.08 17.11 6.28 4.38 5.04
N8 21.3 2.97 25.35 16.11 7.99 7.83

In general, no clear trends were observed for the variation of Ni, V, Th, Cr and Fe in moss samples
collected at fourteen different locations in the selected study area. By comparing all of the CF values
obtained, the five heavy metals have been transported away from its local sources for a range of distances
and deposited into/onto mosses with different rates. From the CF values obtained in this study, it is clearly
indicated that the distribution pattern of the five elements was not uniform throughout the whole study
areas and that suggesting the presence of some other factors as a secondary pollution sources. Moreover,
besides being exposed to the prevailing southwest and northwest winds as a major dispersion factor, some

7
elements also can be emitted from a wide range of sources other than industrial activities, e.g. the use of
pesticides, marine factor, vegetation factor, soil factor, vehicles and transportation factors, differences in
growth rate of the moss within the area, irregular wind direction patterns, variable forest density, variations
in precipitation chemistry during the exposure period and sensitivity of moss to air pollutants.

Regarding to the concentration of all metals in mosses obtained in this study, it is clearly shows that by
varying the distances of sampling stations, no particular deposition pattern was observed. The metals have
been transported away from its sources randomly. Therefore the study have found that the concentration of
certain metal are high at a certain distances compared to the other. The results obtained in this study show
that most of the metals having a high values at the distance after 15 km away from the expected sources
point except for Ni. Based on the value of CF measured, in general observation, all of the moss samples
either from northern or southern areas has been contaminated with Ni, V, Th, Cr and Fe compared to the
background value recorded [10]. The most contaminated elements occurred for V followed with Th and Fe.
As for comparison, the other natural values of heavy metals in mosses that can be used as a background
reading are listed in Table 3. The values of these metals were obtained from the analysis of samples from
remote and unpolluted areas owing to the difficulty of obtaining true natural values for heavy metals in
mosses. The data obtained in Table 3 also shows that the metals having a different concentration from
country to country. The differences in metal values were reasonable, taking into account that various
species of mosses were studied.

Table 3: The median values of heavy metals concentration in mosses (mg/kg) collected from different areas in Europe
[11]
Scandinavia Norway
Slovakia Tula Poland
Element (ppm) Background
(ppm) (ppm) (ppm)
level
Copper basin 1973
Years 2000 2000 1995
2000 (range)
V 5.6 5.7 3.9 2.5 - 2.0
Cr 6.5 3.7 1.5 1.43 - 1.5
Fe 1560 1660 362 357 500 400
Ni 3.2 3.2 1.44 1.83 1.5 – 2.0 1.6
Th - - - - - 0.08

Table 4: Correlations between metals in mosses

Elements Th Fe V Cr Ni
Th - 0.72 0.38 0.66 0.41
Fe - 0.50 0.56 0.36
V - 0.78 0.24
Cr - 0.62
Ni -

A positive correlation was obtained for the pairs of Fe/Th, Fe/V, Cr/Th, Cr/Fe, Cr/Ni and Cr/V (Table 4).
All of these pairs were significantly correlated with the r values higher than 0.5. Ni correlates with Cr only
and metal Cr correlates with all of Th, Fe, V and Ni. Fe and Ni was not significantly correlated in Hypnum
Plumaeforme moss species (in this study) but has been reported significant positive correlation in
Pleurozium schreberi [15].

8
Correlation of heavy metals may be affected by emission sources, meteorology conditions as well as the
age and species of the mosses [12]. On the other hand, wind effect is very important in atmospheric
deposition of heavy metals and wind transect in the study area. Comparison of the values obtained in this
present study was higher compared to that in the four listed Europe countries (background level). It’s
clearly stated that there has been a heavy metals pollution in the study area. Many studies reported that both
natural and anthropogenic sources play a part in supplying Fe, Cr and Ni to the atmosphere, however, found
that atmospheric deposition of Fe, Ni and Cr was mainly due to local sources rather than long-range
transport [9, 4]. The geological situation is a possible factor for higher heavy metal deposition in these
sample places than the others. Wind effect is very important for removing and scavenging of pollution
emissions. Because of the topographical uncertainty in the study area, wind speed has played an important
role to disperse atmospheric heavy metals to a certain range in distances. Therefore from this study we have
observed that there are differences in the accumulation of individual heavy metals in mosses.

Conclusion

From the data gathered in this study it can be considered that Malaysian mosses can be used to monitor
heavy metals contamination in surrounding atmosphere. The used of EDXRF to analyse the moss samples
made the technique simpler and ease to be used especially when a lot of samples need to be analysed in a
short time. The data gained in this study clearly proved that the area has been polluted with a certain level
of heavy metals. More detail study needs to be conducted in future to trace the sources of those heavy
metals in the area.

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