Enriquecimiento, disponibilidad y contaminación de metales traza (Cd, Cu, Pb y Zn) en sedimentos de lagunas urbanas de Concepción-Chile Enrichment, availability and contamination of trace metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) in sediments of urban lagoons in Concepción, Chile

Abstract

Trace metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) enrichment, availability and contamination in superficial sediments of three interconnected urban lagoons localized in Concepción-Chile, were evaluated. According to the results of geochemical fracctionation analysis, Cu and Pb are rather associated with oxi-hydroxides, Cd is associated with exchangeable and carbonates fraction, while Zn is mainly associated with organic, oxi-hydroxides and residual fraction. The estimation of the availability percentages indicate that Cu is the most mobile metal and the less mobile is the Cd. An evaluation of the geo-accumulation index and urban industrial pollution allowed to classify the studied zone as moderately to highly contaminated.

Keywords

• availability
• sediments
• metals