Abstract
Heavy metals contamination and its health risk assessment in the sediments of water reservoir dams at Al-Baha region, KSA
Author(s): Sami A.Zabin, Saad M.HowladarThe objective was to determine the contamination status of heavymetals in the sediments of some water dams reservoir atAl-Baha region, KSAand to assess their human health risk as a contribution to the knowledge and management of the water dams and the region around them. The concentrations of heavy metals in sediments of four water dams reservoir were investigated. More than 130 samples of the sediments were collected under wet and dry weather conditions and analyzed for heavy metal contents by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The results indicate that the concentrations of the tested metals in the sediment samples are significantly high inmost samples. This indicates a clear pattern of geogenic sources and anthropogenic impact on these dams. In general, the order of concentrationwasBa>Sr>Cr >Cu>Ni >Co >Pb.Exposure through ingestion was the scenario proposed for this study. The non-carcinogenic risk estimations reveal that HQ values for most of the metals much exceeds one, indicating a concern for chronic non-cancer effects on oral exposure to the sediments fromthese dams. The highestHQ valueswere for Co followed by Cr and Sr.
