Heavy metals and natural radioactivity concentration in sediments of the Mediterranean Sea coast

Abbasi, Akbar; Mirekhtiary, Fatemeh

Heavy metals and natural radioactivity concentration in sediments of the Mediterranean Sea coast

2020

Abbasi, Akbar | Mirekhtiary, Fatemeh

Heavy metal assessment and natural radioactivity determination in sediments of North Cyprus (Mediterranean coast) were carried out using different analysis methods. The average activity concentrations (range) of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were found to be 20.1 (30.6–9.2) Bq kg⁻¹dry weight, 18.4 (26.9–12.4) Bq kg⁻¹dw, and 467.3 (619.9–147.6) Bq kg⁻¹dw, respectively. The average activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th in the sediment samples were less than the acceptable limits, whereas the average activity concentration of ⁴⁰K in the sediment samples was higher than the worldwide average concentration. With regard to the studied heavy metals, the corresponding decreasing average concentration orders were found to be Mn > Zn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Pb. The heavy metal concentration values that were determined for sediment samples were compared with the values obtained in other studies. According to contamination indexes, the results (except for Cu in S-9) indicated no significant contaminated area.

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