DETERMINATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN MALAYSIAN COASTAL MARINE SEDIMENTS OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA BY INAA

Abstract

Ratios of elements in everything from the smallest bacterium to the largest blue whale are regulated by their physiochemical properties and by feedback regulation of the environment. Aquatic organisms accumulate elements from water, sediments and discharge of waste. Inputs of many trace elements to the environment have increased as a result of industrialization and urbanization. Essential element concentrations in coastal marine sediment samples collected from the South China Sea of peninsular Malaysia have been measured using the instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) comparative method. The irradiation was carried out using a thermal neutron flux of 1012 n cm-2s-1 in TRIGA Mark II at the Malaysia Nuclear Agency (MINT) reactor. Enrichment factor is used to distinguish the natural sediment from the contaminated sediment of element released to the environment due to anthropogenic activities. Accuracy and precision were evaluated by assaying irradiated standard reference material (IAEA-Soil7). The results are found to be in good agreement with certified values. Essential elements have been determined from 30 samples using high resolution gamma spectroscopy.