International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol.7, No.35, 353-360
353
Research Article Open Access
Applied Heavy Metals Pollution Index (HPI) as a Water Pollution Indicator of
Shatt Al-Arab River, Basrah-Iraq
Makia M. Al-Hejuje
1
, Najah A. Hussain
1
, Hamid T. Al-Saad
2
1 Department of Ecology, College of Sciences,University of Basrah, Iraq
2 College of Marine Science, University of Basrah, Iraq
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Marine Science, 2017, Vol 7, No 35 doi
Received: 08 Aug., 2017
Accepted: 29 Aug., 2017
Published: 09 Sep., 2017
Copyright © 2017
Al-Hejuje et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Al-Hejuje M.M., Hussain N.A., and Al-Saad H.T., 2017, Applied heavy metals pollution index (HPI) as a water pollution indicator of Shatt Al-Arab river,
Basrah-Iraq, International Journal of Marine Science, 7(35): 353-360 (doi
Abstract
Five stations were selected at the middle part of Shatt Al-Arab river to determine the monthly variation of seven eco-toxic
elements (Cd
+2
, Cu
+2
, Fe
+2
, Mn
+2
, Ni
+2
, Pb
+2
and Zn
+2
) concentrations and their distribution as dissolved and particulate
(exchangeable and residual) phases during the low tide period from December, 2012 to November, 2013. Heavy Metals Pollution
Index (HPI) was applied to determine the pollution of Shatt Al-Arab water. Results showed that the concentrations of the previous
metals as dissolved phase were (3.01; 2.35; 89.45; 4.48; 9.51; 43.67 and 7.58) µg/l, respectively, whereas in the exchangeable phase
of particulate were (48.56; 53.22; 8968.76; 1748.58; 120.14; 271.52; 243.16) µg/g dry weight respectively and in the residual phase
of particulate were (57.59; 88.68; 21571.74; 365.90; 163.39; 388.44 and 219.42) µg/g dry weight respectively. The results indicated
that mean HPI values were found to be above the critical pollution index value of 100. HPI values for the presence study were ranged
from 130.41 to 196.97 referred to polluted water caused by the world impermissible values of dissolved Pb, Fe and Cd.
Keywords
Shatt Al-Arab water; HPI; Heavy metals pollution; Indices
Introduction
Heavy metals is a term generally taken to include the metallic elements with an atomic weight greater than 40,
which have specific gravity greater than 5 g/cm
3
, but excluding the alkaline earth metals, alkali metals,
lanthanides and actinides. All heavy metals exist in surface waters in colloidal, particulate, and dissolved
phases.
The dissolved metals have size below 0.45 µm and found as free ions or unionized organometallic chelates or
complexes, or as colloids.
Heavy metals are among the most common environmental pollutants because of their toxicity, persistence and
non-degradability in the environment (Majhi and Biswal, 2016), and their occurrence in water and biota indicate
the presence of natural or anthropogenic sources (Balakrishnan and Ramu, 2016). Industrial processes, domestic
sewages, agricultural fertilizers are the main source of metal pollution. In addition, metallic compounds are used
as pigments in paint and dye manufacture, plastic, rubber, and paper; and many others. The prevalence of heavy
metals in domestic formulations, such as cosmetic or cleansing agents, is frequently overlooked. Some forms of
intensive agriculture give rise to severe metal pollution (Abel, 2002). The partitioning of metals between dissolved
and suspended particulate matter determines their ultimate fate in the aquatic environment (Al-Khafaji et al.,
2011).
The most important heavy metals from the point of view of water pollution are lead, cadmium, iron, zinc, copper,
nickel and manganese. Some of these metals (e.g. copper, zinc and iron) are essential trace elements to living
organisms and play an important roles in the functioning of critical enzyme systems, but become toxic at higher
concentrations. Others, such as lead and cadmium, have no known biological function, and may be toxic even at
trace levels to exposure (Al-Hejuje, 2014). Heavy metal exposure causes serious health problems, including
reduced growth and development, cancer, organ damage, nervous system damage, and in extreme cases death
(Alani et al., 2014). Heavy metals, like Cd and Pb are toxic even at low concentrations, can bio-accumulated and
