Henintsoa Rakotoarisaona, Utah Valley University
Physical Sciences
The Jordan River is the only outlet of Utah Lake. Historically, this area has been impacted by urbanization, long term mining operations, industrial and agricultural activities resulting in potentially high levels of trace metal pollutants at the headwaters of the Jordan River. Since trace metals are known to be toxic at elevated levels, it is important to evaluate their concentration, distribution and mobility in this sensitive area in order to determine risk to wildlife, humans and downstream users of the Jordan River. Three core samples from 0 cm to 95 cm in depth were collected at the east (industrialized area), west (newly developed area) and north (an island barrier) sides of the outlet of Utah Lake. Each sample was digested in triplicates in the Microwave Accelerated Reaction System (MARS) using US Environmental Protection Agency Method 3052 and analyzed in the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) for As, Cd, Cr, Mn, Pb, Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data, with a boneferroni adjustment made for multiple comparisons. The results indicated that the East and North sediments of the Jordan River were significantly (P < 0.5) more heavily impacted by trace metal pollutants than the West side, with the North area accumulating higher levels of the majority of the trace metals or metalloid evaluated. Enrichment of Co, Cr, Pb and Zn was observed on the East sediment at concentrations reaching 10,821, 4.07, 13.7, 12.7, 119.4 mg kg-1, respectively. The most substantial elevation in the concentration of trace metals occurred with Cu in the North section of the lake, increasing from 349 mg kg-1 at 0-15 cm to 1383 mg kg-1 cm depth, showing high mobility, followed by Zn which increased from 46.7 mg kg-1 at 0-15 cm to 592 mg kg-1 30-45 cm depths. The enrichment of these trace metals in the East and North sediments at the outlet of Utah Lake pose a health risk to animals and humans who use these areas for recreational or agricultural purposes.