Trace Metal Pollution from a Municipal Waste Disposal Site at Pangnirtung, Northwest Territories
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic1640Keywords:
Environmental impacts, Heavy metals, Marine pollution, Sediments (Geology), Sewage disposal, Toxicity, Trace elements, Water, Water pollution, Water quality, Pangnirtung Fiord, Nunavut, PangnirtungAbstract
Water and sediment samples collected from a municipal waste disposal site near the Hamlet of Pangnirtung, Baffin Island, were analyzed for classical parameters and trace metals (Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn). Although all trace metal concentrations showed a considerable increase below the dump, only Pb and Fe in water samples from the main collector ditch and below the dump exhibited excessive levels, with 6.1 and 53.3 ppm respectively. The ratios between easily exchangeable metals and total metals ranged between 0.02 (Fe) and 18.7 (Cu), in accordance with related studies. There was no significant accumulation of any trace metal in the sediments below the disposal site, indicating rapid removal from the intertidal flats and subsequent accumulation in the bottom sediments.
Key words: Baffin Island, metal contamination, leachates, trace metals, waste disposal
