Heavy Metals in the Water, Sediment, and Fish Harvested from the Krueng Sabee River Aceh Province, Indonesia

Abstract

The pollution of rivers from human activities such as housing, markets, workshops, transportation, land cultivation, and industry has become an issue. The increasing contribution of heavy metals to pollution in rivers has a direct effect on the metal bioaccumulation in fish. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Pb in the waters, sediment, and fish harvested from the Krueng Sabee River, Aceh Province, Indonesia. Furthermore, the water, sediment, and fish samples were collected from six locations representing the upstream and downstream regions of the river. Cd, Cu, and Pb were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). The results showed that Cd, Cu, and Pb were not detected in the water, while the concentration of Cd in the sediments ranges between 0.0544 to 0.2683 mg kg-1, Cu ranges between 4.4149 to 14.8160 mg kg-1, and Pb ranges between 0.9186 - 15.4954 mg kg-1. Therefore, Cd, Cu, and Pb in the water and sediment were below the quality standard, but these heavy metals in the fish sample met the threshold limit. The highest Cd concentration was reported in Tor soro (5.5591 mg kg-1), and the highest concentration of Cu was reported in Mugil cephalus (6.7021 mg kg-1), while the higher Pb concentration was reported in Cyclocheilichthys Apogon (0.0279 mg kg-1).

Keywords

• heavy metals
• sediment
• gold mine
• krueng sabee
• fish
• water quality