Studies of arsenic mobilization with iron, manganese and copper in borehole sediments of the river padma

Previous Research suggested that there is a strong interrelation between As, Fe and Mn in their Occurring, transport and exposure to the environment. In this context, a comparative study was conducted in this current experiment to correlate As, Fe, Cu and Mn by determining their concentration in sediments (upper and bore hole) at different depths in the river Padma. Six locations were selected as sampling sites from entering point (upstream) and end point (downstream) of the river Padma. Sampling was carried out by borehole technique at several depths ranging from 1 meter to 5 meters. The samples were digested with HCIO/sub 4/- HNO/sub 3/ acid mixture of ratio 2:3 in an acid digestion bomb. Arsenic was determined by HVG-AAS technique and Fe, Mn and Cu were determined by Flame-AAS technique. Large amount of Fe has been obtained, which has endorsed the previous assumptions of the relations of As with Fe. The small correlation value in case of As, Fe and Mn indicates that not all the minerals of arsenic and Mn but only hydroxides of Fe and Mn interfere with As. The small amount of Cu obtained indicated that any relation between sources and exposure of As and Cu and their interaction is yet to be found out. (author)