Baseline Assessment of Heavy Metal Pollution during COVID-19 near River Mouth of Kerian River, Malaysia

Mohammad Nishat Akhtar, Mohd Talha Anees, Emaad Ansari, Jazmina Binti Ja’afar, Mohammed Danish and Elmi Abu Bakar
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Mohammad Nishat Akhtar: School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Malaysia
Mohd Talha Anees: Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Emaad Ansari: School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Malaysia
Jazmina Binti Ja’afar: School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Malaysia
Mohammed Danish: Bioresource Tech. Division, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, George Town 11800, Malaysia
Elmi Abu Bakar: School of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong Tebal 14300, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: River water quality is a serious concern among scientist and government agencies due to increasing anthropogenic activities and uncontrolled industrial discharge to rivers. The present study was conducted near the river mouth of the Kerian River to assess heavy metal pollution during COVID-19 pandemic-lockdown conditions and post-COVID-19 pandemic-unlock conditions. Twelve samples of shallow, middle, and bottom depths were collected at four locations along a 9.6 km reach. A concentration of eight heavy metals including Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Nickel, Lead, and Zinc were extracted through atomic absorption spectrometry. Total suspended solid was measured during laboratory experimentation. The results showed that, during the pandemic, concentrations of Nickel, Zinc, and Iron were high at shallow, middle, and bottom depths, respectively. Decreasing orders of heavy metal concentration are variable at different depths due to either their high sinking tendency with other existing components of water matrix or the anthropogenic source. However, almost all values of heavy metals are under the permissible limit of National Water Quality Standards of Malaysia and Food and Drug Administration. A possible reason for the lack of heavy metal pollution may be the restriction of anthropogenic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, no significant differences were observed in total suspended solid.

Keywords: heavy metals; Kerian River; pollution; anthropogenic activities; water quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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