title: Assessment of heavy metal levels in Almendares River sediments--Havana City, Cuba.
abstract: The Almendares River watershed covers a large portion of Havana, Cuba and is centrally important to both recreational and other activities in the region. In order to assess current water quality conditions prior to planned remediation efforts, the spatial distribution of six heavy metals and other compounds were determined in river sediments at fifteen sampling stations in the watershed. Metal concentrations in sediments ranged from 86.1 to 708.8 for Zn, 39.3 to 189.0 for Pb, 71.6 to 420.8 for Cu, 84.4 to 209.7 Cr, 1.5 to 23.4 for Co, and 1.0 to 4.3 for Cd microg/g dry weight sediment. Calculated enrichment factors (EF; measured metal versus background mineral conditions) were almost always greater than 1.0, suggesting significant anthropogenic impact on metal levels in the river. The highest EF values were seen immediately below Cotorro (EF>10 for Pb, Cu, and Cd), a suburban town that has an active secondary smelter, and below the largest municipal landfill in Havana (EF>10 for Pb, Cu, Cd, and Zn). Further, three sampling stations had multiple metals at concentrations higher than probable effects concentrations (PEC), implying possible local ecotoxicological impacts. Finally, sequential extractions of the sediments indicated that heavy metals were largely associated with the organic fraction, and it was estimated that up to 62% of metals in the sediments would be susceptible to release back into the water column if hydraulic or other changes occurred in the river. These data are being used to prioritize decisions related to the remediation of the river system.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Análisis Ambiental, Instituto Superior de Tecnologías y Ciencias Aplicadas, Ave. Salvador Allende y Luaces, Plaza, Ciudad Habana, Cuba.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Olivares-Rieumont
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de la Rosa
authors.forename: Lazaro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: D' Alessandro
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Borroto
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez
mesh_terms: D003462:Cuba; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014873:Water Pollutants