Heavy Metals Contamination in Sediments from the North of the Strait of Hormuz

The objective of this study was determining the heavy metal contents in sediment along the coastlines of Hormuzgan province. Sediment constitutes are important part of aquatic ecosystems. They provide habitat for benthic organisms and could be a significant sink as well as a potential source of contaminants. Three sources of heavy metals pollution in this area are industry, natural mineralogy of soil and oil. The levels of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni) have been investigated over a 4 season period at 9 sites. We collected sediment samples from a depth of 0-10 cm. Heavy metals assessed by the atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed Pb, Cd, Cu, Ni concentrations in the sediment ranging from 3.00 to 28.00 ?g/g, 2.96 to 10.11 ?g/g, 2.60 to 11.27 ?g/g and 8.03 to 105.30 ?g/g, respectively. Seasonal study showed that pollution levels in sediments at spring and summer were more than autumn and winter. The heavy metal concentrations lead to the following ranking: Pb > Ni > Cu > Cd. Based on Pollution Index (MPI) values, our result indicated that station 9 was polluted area and station 2 was unpolluted area.