. , PRELIMINARY STUDY OF HEAVY METALS IN WATER LILY PLANTS AROUND KOTA SAMARAHAN AREA Nur Syazwani Binti Abd Rahim RA 1231 Bachelor of Science with Honours M52 (Aquatic Resource Science and Management) N974 2014 2014 Preliminary Study of Heavy Metals in Water Lily Plants around Kota Samarahan Area Nur Syazwani binti Abd Rahim A final year project report submitted in partial fulfilment of the Final Year Project 1 (STF 3015) Supervisor: Dr. Farah Akmal Idrus Aquatic Resource Science and Management Aquatic Science Department Faculty of Resource Science and Technology University Malaysia Sarawak DECLARATION I hereby declare that no portion of the work referred to in this dissertation has been submitted in support of an application for another degree of qualifications of this or any university or institution of higher learning. -------------------------------------------------------------- Nur Syazwani binti Abd Rahim (32254) Programme of Aquatic Resource Science and Management Department of Aquatic Science Faculty of Resource Science and Technology Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my great appreciation to my supervisor, Dr Farah Akmal Idrus for her valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and working progress of this research work. Her willingness to give her time so generously has been very much appreciated. My special thanks are extended to my parents, Mr Abd Rahim bin Mat Nor and Mrs Zaiton binti Shafie for always giving me support, encouragement, prayers, and love throughout the entire years of my study in UNIMAS. I wish to acknowledge the help provided by all laboratory assistants especially Mr Nazri Latip, Mr Zaidi Ibrahim, Mr Zulkifli Ahmad, Mr Mohd Nor Azlan and also to Mr Tomy Bakeh for their assistance during sampling process and during data analysis. Finally, thanks to all my friends in Aquatic Science 2011/2014 session especially Nur Hanisah Zainal and Masania binti Mohd Basri for their great support throughout this project. Table of Contents Declaration Acknowledgement Tables of Contents …………………………………………..………………………...……I List of Abbreviations ……………………...………………………………………………IV List of Figures …………………………………………………………………………...…V List of Tables …………………………………………………………………………...…VI Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………….1 1.0 Introduction ………………………..…………………………………………………...2 2.0 Literature Review …………………………………………………………..…………..4 2.1 Water lily plant ……….………………………………………………………...4 2.2 Heavy metals and their effects to other living organisms ….…………………..5 2.2.1 Lead ……….………………………………………………………….5 2.2.2 Mercury ………….…………………………………………………...6 2.2.3 Nickel …………….…………………………………………………..6 2.2.4 Arsenic ……….……………………………………………………….6 2.2.5 Zinc ….………………………………………………………………..7 2.2.6 Copper ……….……………………………………………………….7 2.3 Heavy metals in water lily plant…………….…………………………………….8 2.4 Heavy metals in pond, lake and ditch water…….………………………………...8 2.5 Heavy metals in sediment………………….……………………………………...9 3.0 Materials and method……..…………………………………………………………...10 3.1 Study location…….……………………………………………………………..10 3.2 Pre- sampling treatment…….……………………………………………….......11 3.3 Sampling and sample storage ...…….………………………………………..….11 3.4 Identification of species……………………….…………….………………..…12 3.5 Sample preparation for heavy metal analysis……….………………………......12 I 3.5.1 Water-lily plants…….……………………………………………….12 3.5.2 Sediment samples……………………….…………………………...12 3.5.3 Water samples……………………………………………………….12 3.6 Acid digestion procedure of water lily plants and sediments samples…………..13 3.7 Heavy metals analysis………………………………………………………...….13 3.8 Heavy metals concentration ……….………………….……………………........14 3.9 Statistical analysis………………………………………….…………………….15 4.0 Results………………………………………………………..………………………..16 4.1 Water-lily identification……………………….………………………...………16 4.1.1 White water-lily…….………………………………………………..16 4.1.2 Pink water-lily…………………………………….…………………17 4.1.3 Purple water-lily…….………………………………………….……18 4.2 Heavy metals analysis………………………….……………………..…...…….19 4.2.1 Pb in water lily plant in Lake B……….…………………………......19 4.2.2 Hg in water lily plants in Lake A………………………………...…19 4.2.3 Hg in water lily plants in Lake B……………….…………………...20 4.2.4 Ni in water lily plants in Lake A………………………………….....21 4.2.5 Ni in water lily plants in Lake B………………………………..…...22 4.2.6 Ni in water lily plants in Ditch C…………………………………....24 4.2.7 As in water lily plants in Lake A………………………………...…..25 4.2.8 As in water lily plants in Lake B………………………………...…..26 4.2.9 As in water lily plants in Ditch C……………………………..…..…28 4.2.10 Zn in water lily plants in Lake A…………...………………………29 4.2.11 Zn in water lily plants in Lake B……………………………...……30 4.2.12 Zn in water lily plant in Ditch C.................................................…...32 4.2.13 Cu in water lily plants in Lake B………………………………...…33 4.3 Heavy metals in sediments and water between study locations………..……….34 II 5.0 Discussion …………………………………………………………………………….36 5.1 Heavy metals concentration in water lily plant parts……………………...….…36 5.2 Heavy metal in water lily plant between sites of study locations…………….....38 5.2.1 Lead (Pb)……………………………………………………………38 5.2.2 Mercury (Hg)………………………………………………………...38 5.2.3 Nickel (Ni)………………………………………………………...…39 5.2.4 Arsenic (As) ………………………………………………………...40 5.2.5 Zinc (Zn)………………………….……………………………….…41 5.2.6 Copper (Cu)………………………………………………………….42 5.3 Heavy metals in sediment and water between study locations ………………....44 5.4 Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF)………………………………………….………46 5.5 Comparison of heavy metals concentration in aquatic plants from other locations ………………………………………………………………………...51 Conclusion and Recommendation…………………………………………………………52 References…………………………………………………………………………………54 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………...…60 III List of Abbreviations Pb Lead Hg Mercury Ni Nickel As Arsenic Zn Zinc Cu Copper BAF Bioaccumulation Factor AAS Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy FIMS Flow Injection Mercury System ANOVA Analysis of Variance HNO3 Nitric Acid HCl Hydrochloric Acid ICP-MS Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrophotometry FIA Flow Injection Analysis BDL Below Detection Limit IV List of Figures Description Page Figure 1 Morphology of water lily plant 5 Figure 2 Map of the study locations 10 Figure 3 Image of N. lotus 16 Figure 4 Image of N. pubesens 17 Figure 5 Image of N. capensis 18 Figure 6 Hg concentration in water lily plant at Lake A 20 Figure 7 Hg in N. lotus 20 Figure 8 Ni concentrations in water lily plant at Lake A 21 Figure 9 Ni in N. lotus 23 Figure 10 Ni in N. pubescens 23 Figure 11 Ni in N. capensis 23 Figure 12 Ni concentrations in water lily plant at Ditch C 24 Figure 13 As concentrations in water lily plant at Lake A 25 Figure 14 As in N. lotus 27 Figure 15 As in N. pubescens 27 Figure 16 As in N. capensis 27 Figure 17 As concentrations in water lily plant at Ditch C 28 Figure 18 Zn concentrations in water lily plant at Lake A 29 Figure 19 Zn in N. lotus 31 Figure 20 Zn in N. pubescens 31 Figure 21 Zn in N. capensis 31 Figure 22 Zn concentrations in water lily plant at Ditch C 32 Figure 23 Cu concentrations in water lily plant at Lake B 33 Figure 24 Heavy metals contents in sediment 35 Figure 25 Heavy metals contents in water 3 V List of Tables Description Page Table 1 AAS detection limit for heavy metal analysis 14 Table 2 Bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of heavy metals in the water lily plant between species relatives to sediment 48 Table 3 Comparison of concentration (mg/kg) of heavy metal in water lily plant tissues with other aquatic plants from different locations 51 VI Preliminary Study of Heavy Metals in Water Lily Plants around Kota Samarahan Area Nur Syazwani binti Abd Rahim Aquatic Resource Science and Management Faculty of Resource Science and Technology UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK Abstract Water lily plants have many uses such as fragrance essence, cuisines, and also act as phytoremediation agent for heavy metals in aquatic ecosystems. The objectives of this study were to determine the concentrations of selected heavy metals; Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Nickel (Ni), Arsenic (As), Zinc (Zn) and Copper (Cu), and to find out the differences of these metal Bioaccumulation Factor (BAF) in water lily plants. Three species of water lily were found in this study and were identified as Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea pubescens and Nymphaea capensis. Three study locations were chosen in Kota Samarahan area. Three samples were taken which were water lily plant, sediment and water. Plant samples were separated according to their parts prior to analyse (e.g. flower, stem, root and leaves). Heavy metals content were analysed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Hg was analysed using Flow Injection Mercury Systems (FIMS 400) analyser. All types of heavy metals were detected in plant samples except Pb that only detected in sediment samples. In general, highest concentration of heavy metals detected in root (Zn; 113.33 mg/kg; N. capensis samples; Lake B), stem (Zn; 86.11 mg/kg; N. pubescens samples; Ditch C) and leaves (Cu; 0.23 mg/kg; N. lotus samples; Lake B). Comparison of level of pollution between three study locations was done by comparing the heavy metals that content in the sediment and water samples. Metal concentrations between study locations followed the order of Ditch C > Lake B > Lake A. The concentration of heavy metals content in sediment and water samples of all study locations were below toxicity level. BAF value were different between the water lily plant part and species. BAF values were only obtained for Ni and Zn because the concentration for Pb, Hg, As