Arsenic and heavy metals in sediments near Paranagua Port, southern Brazil

Four sampling campaign were carried out in 2001 to investigate the contamination rate by metallic at I I sample stations around FOSPAR industry and one control point. In each sample, levels of metallic trace elements Cu, As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Two extractions for metallic elements were performed, one strong with hydrofluoric acid (HF) and HNO3 and one weak with HCl 0,1 N during 12 hours. From all investigated elements only As, Zn and Ni levels showed higher concentrations than critic limits adopted in this work. Maximum and minimum values were 0, 1 and 81,5 ppm for As, 1,0 and 38,3 ppm for Ni, and 0,7 and 310,8 ppm for Zn. Our results indicate an high input of the element As, probably derived from human activities or geochemical anomaly.