TITLE:
Behavior of Surface Sediment from the José Antonio Alzate Dam in Mexico as a Deposit of Heavy Metals
AUTHORS:
Icela Dagmar Barceló-Quintal, Hugo Eduardo Solís-Correa, Julisa García-Albortante, Magdalena García-Martínez, Luis Jesús Osornio-Berthet
KEYWORDS:
Lerma River, José Antonio Alzate Dam, Sediment, Heavy Metal
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.9 No.10,
September
7,
2018
ABSTRACT: The problem of
contamination of Lerma River in the State of Mexico, México, has been studied
in an integral way, since it is one of the rivers of importance due to its
geographical situation in the country. José Antonio Dam is the main receiving
body of this river that is being contaminated by, industrial wastewater, of
which about 70% is inorganic, as well as discharges municipal and agricultural,
driving a lot of material in suspension. This dam acts as a regulator of
avenues and its water is used for agricultural irrigation and its sediments are
used as sludge to improve agricultural soil in the surroundings. One of the
studies that have been carried out is to determine the geochemical distribution
of heavy metals in the sediments of this dam, as well as its adsorptive
capacity towards different metals. It has been observed that these sediments
acts as metal contaminants sequester. Knowing the composition and morphology of
these sediments can provide information to understand the mobility of different
heavy metals it contains, and potential
health risk, which
can finally lead to the establishment of purification capacity of this sludge.