Spatial distribution of heavy metal in sands and sediments of Parki Beach, Chattogram, Bangladesh

To assess the sources, levels, spatial distributions and exposure to human health, the concentration of heavy metals Pb, Cu, Mn, Zn, and Fe in the sand/sediment of the Parki Beach area of Anowara, Chattogram, Bangladesh are determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for the first time. A total of 40 surface and subsurface sand and sediment samples were collected from 20 different sampling points along the 15 km long Parki Beach area, Bangladesh. Average concentrations of Pb, Cu, Mn, Zn and Fe in surface samples are 14.60, 10.10, 283, 407 and 25,256 mg/kg respectively and 9.95, 4.20, 193, 156.6 and 24,404 mg/kg for sub-surface samples, respectively, which shows that the values are higher in surface samples than those in sub-surface samples. According to the Consensus-Based Sediment Quality Guidelines (CBSQG), the northern part of the beach becomes moderately polluted by Mn and Fe, and a smaller area of the southern part is highly polluted by Zn. The average Contamination Factor (CF) of Zn was greater than 1(CF > 1), while the CF of other metals was less than 1(CF