Environmental study of obidos lagoon by multielement analysis of sediments

Abstract

The techniques PIXE and INAA were applied to the multielement analysis of sediments of Obidos Lagoon (Portugal). The reference materials IAEA Soil‐5, SD‐N‐1/2, SL‐1 and NBS 1645 river sediment have been analysed for validation of the techniques used. The results were compared to published values for sedimentary rocks. Higher levels of As, Co, Cs, Cu, Ga, Pb, Rb, Th, U, and Zn were found in most sampling locations. Although the available data were scarce, we inferred some likely pollution sources: agriculture practice, municipal sewage effluent, and wastes from coal deposits.