Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

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Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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Heavy metal contamination in mangrove sediments in Klang estuary, T

Malaysia: Implication of risk assessment
Mohammed ELTurka, Rosazlin Abdullaha,b, Rozainah Mohamad Zakariaa,c,∗,
Nor Kartini Abu Bakard
a
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
b
Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
c
Institute of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
d
Department of Chemistry, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Deterioration of environmental quality in estuaries leads to a high risk of destruction of marine life. Heavy metal
Pollution (Mn, As, Cu, Zn, and Pb) concentration in mangrove sediment in the Klang estuary was evaluated to identify any
Soil potential risk of contamination resulting from the rapid development along the Klang river. Several indicators
Port Klang were used to evaluate the pollution status: geo-accumulation (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), degree of con-
Selangor
tamination (DC), potential ecological risk index (PERI) and risk assessment code (RAC). The results indicate that
Ecological risk assessment
As and Pb concentrations exceeded the threshold effect level, while Mn, Zn, and Cu posed no adverse biological
Mobility heavy metals
impacts. In addition, Igeo, CF, and PERI values showed minimal risk of heavy metal pollution in the study area.
However, RAC for Zn exhibited high environmental risk. On the other hand, Cu and Mn showed medium en-
vironmental risk, while Pb and As showed no environmental risk. These results can increase awareness of the
mitigating action that mangrove forests naturally provide against pollution, and provide information to design
future plans and policies towards more sustainable development in the area.

1. Introduction et al., 2010; Marchand et al., 2006). Sediment assessment is more

Rapid development has many benefits, but it also poses a big
challenge to maintaining the environment (Kaewtubtim et al., 2016).
Environmental pollution poses a major threat to the natural environ-
ment (Rothlin and McCann, 2016). Reports show that in recent decades,
the marine environment has been continuously loaded with various
hazardous chemical pollutants from human activities, severely affecting
environmental quality (de Vallejuelo et al., 2010; Karbassi et al., 2008;
Miola et al., 2016). Heavy metals enter the environment through nat-
ural sources, for example erosion and weathering of rocks, as well as
anthropogenic sources, for example, wastewater, agricultural and in-
dustrial activities (Alloway, 2013; Belkhiri et al., 2016; Li et al., 2016).
The major sources of pollution are industry, mining, agriculture, and
wastewater (Cox and Preda, 2005). Research notes that areas with in-
dustrial activities and human activities always have high concentra-
tions of heavy metals (Caccia et al., 2003). Heavy metal concentration
can pose a threat to the ecosystem and its adjacent environment. The
impact is more pronounced in river estuaries and their associated
mangrove forests and adjoining marine environment (de Vallejuelo
conservative compared to water assessment because sediments retain
contaminants (Casas et al., 2003; Singh et al., 2005), which can reflect
the historical variation of the pollutants (Olubunmi and Olorunsola,
2010; Singh et al., 2005).
The Mangrove forest ecosystems are an essential intertidal zone in
secured estuarine shores and can mainly be found in tropical and sub-
tropical areas (Tam and Wong, 2000). They provide valuable resources
for economic benefit as well as shoreline protection (Tamin et al.,
2011). They are also very sensitive ecosystems, and many Mangrove
zones across the world are declining or being lost because of con-
tamination (Davari et al., 2010).
The mangrove forests in the Klang area, which is located on the
Straits of Malacca, is among the ecologically exposed zones that are
threatened by human activities, such as chemical hazards, industries,
shipping, fisheries, tourism, human settlements, and logging, all of
which result in contamination and deterioration of environmental
quality (Sany et al., 2013). The Klang estuary is at the end of Klang
River that runs through the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, and
is home to the largest and busiest port of Malaysia, Port Klang.

∗
Corresponding author. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
E-mail address: rozainah@um.edu.my (R. Mohamad Zakaria).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2019.106266
Received 30 January 2019; Accepted 23 June 2019
Available online 24 June 2019
0272-7714/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. ELTurk, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

However, patches of mangrove forests still exist at the fringing coastal Table 1
areas of the estuary, despite the overwhelming growth of human po- GPS Sampling points.
pulation and continuous development. Although quite a number of Station No. Latitude (N) Longitude (E)
studies have investigated the concentration of heavy metals in this area,
none have assessed the potential risk. A lack of studies on risk assess- 1 3° 0′4.88" 101°22′19.81"
2 3° 0′4.72" 101°22′19.00"
ment and the mobility of heavy metals in the Klang estuary could lead
3 3° 0′4.58" 101°22′18.36"
to inadequate environmental management, as not enough information 4 3° 0′4.51" 101°22′17.63"
is available. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the concentration and 5 3° 0′5.30" 101°22′19.64"
distribution of heavy metals in this critical area, so as to understand the 6 3° 0′5.34" 101°22′18.95"
present condition of its ecosystem and to compile baseline data for 7 3° 0′5.14" 101°22′18.17"
8 3° 0′5.13" 101°22′17.41"
future monitoring.
9 3° 0′5.94" 101°22′19.48"
Many sediment quality guidelines have been designed to protect the 10 3° 0′6.01" 101°22′18.68"
environment from the harmful and toxic effects of sediment-bound 11 3° 0′5.71" 101°22′17.87"
pollutants (McCready et al., 2006). These guidelines measure the de- 12 3° 0′5.80" 101°22′17.12"
13 2°59′30.34" 101°22′32.93"
gree to which the chemical condition of sediments can have an adverse
14 2°59′30.17" 101°22′31.71"
effect on aquatic organisms and are designed to evaluate the quality of 15 2°59′30.12" 101°22′30.01"
the sediments. They are also used to group contaminated areas and 16 2°59′30.03" 101°22′28.99"
prioritize them for further investigation (Díaz-de Alba et al., 2011). 17 2°59′29.64" 101°22′33.13"
The study aims to investigate the concentration and deposition of 18 2°59′29.50" 101°22′31.86"
19 2°59′29.18" 101°22′30.20"
selected heavy metals, i.e. Mn, As, Cu, Zn and Pb, in the mangrove
20 2°59′29.32" 101°22′29.11"
sediment around the Klang estuary in Peninsular Malaysia, to elucidate 21 2°59′28.97" 101°22′33.30"
the mobility of heavy metals and to evaluate the impact of anthro- 22 2°59′28.82" 101°22′31.98"
pogenic activities on the coastal mangrove forest ecosystem. 23 2°59′28.62" 101°22′30.39"
Information gathered in this study can enhance the understanding of 24 2°59′28.74" 101°22′29.31"

heavy metal contamination in the Klang mangrove ecosystem. This

information is important for decision makers involved in coastal eco-
2. Materials and methods
system management in Malaysia, and will enable effective monitoring
of both environmental quality and sustainable development.
2.1. Study area

This study was conducted in the remaining mangrove patches of the

Klang estuary, close to Port Klang, as shown in Fig. 1 and GPS co-
ordinators in Table 1. The area is characterized by massive and rapid

Fig. 1. Map of Peninsular Malaysia and the study area (Klang estuary).

2
M. ELTurk, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

commercial development including ports, transportation, industrial Table 2

areas, commercial and residential areas, tourism activities, and fish- NIST SRM 2586 value.
eries. The population of Klang District is 879,867 and the Port Klang No Element Certified value Mean of observed value (mg/ % Recovery
forms an important part of the economy of the state of Selangor. It is (mg/kg) kg)
home to about 95 shipping companies and agents, 300 custom brokers,
1 Cu 81 88.83 ± 3.7 109.66
25 container storage centers, as well as more than 70 freight and
2 Pb 432 370 ± 8.3 85.64
transport companies. It handled almost 50% of Malaysia's sea-borne 3 Mn 1000 917.54 ± 3.62 91.75
container trade in 2013 (Department of Statistics, Malaysia. 2018). 4 As 8.7 9.5 ± 0.9 109.19
The Klang River Basin covers an area of 1288 km2 and is approxi- 5 Zn 352 286 ± 81.25
mately 120 km in length. The upper catchment is mountainous, and is
still partly covered by tropical forest, and flows through the me-
tropolitan city of Kuala Lumpur and eventually drains into the Straits of Table 3
Malacca. The range of mean annual rainfall is 1701–1710 mm, while The standard recovery values in the sediment sample.
the range of mean annual temperature is 27.3–27.7 °C (Hemati et al., No. Cu Pb As Zn Mn
2017).
F1 (acid soluble) 2.12 0.48 1.32 10 14.01
F2 (reducible fraction) 1.92 6.76 1.34 5.32 5.69
2.2. Sediment sampling collection F3 (oxidizable fraction) 2.89 6.86 10.55 2.07 56.26
F4 (residual fraction) 4.13 30.59 16.61 5.27 29.26
A total of 24 sediment samples (0–20 cm deep, triplicates for each sum F 11.06 44.69 29.82 22.66 105.22
sample), from sampling points in the study area within the remaining Total element 9.38 37.39 35.69 22.46 105
Recovery 117.91 119.52 83.55 100.89 100.20
mangrove patches at the Klang estuary, were collected by utilizing
auger tools. The reason to collect surface sediments so that the effects of
recent depositional events (e.g., flooding or dredging) can clearly be was used as a standard to check against the accuracy of the analysis. In
delineated to test their influence on the contamination in the sediments this method, 1 g of standard reference material (SRM 2586) was di-
(Smodis et al., 2003). gested in the same way the soil samples were digested, and as reported
The samples were kept in ziplock plastic bags under 4 °C and then in Table 2. The sequential extraction recovery is presented in Table 3.
transferred directly to the laboratory. In the lab, the samples were The following equation is then applied to measure the Sequential ex-
homogenized, air dried, sieved through 0.63-μm (to obtain heavy metal F1 + F2 + F3 + F4
traction recovery. Total element × 100%.
digestion and fractionation analysis) and 2-mm (to obtain physical
properties) sieves, and kept for further analysis.
2.6. Risk assessment methods
2.3. Physical parameter
In order to compare current heavy metals level with local back-
The pH of the homogenized sediment samples was analyzed using a ground values, and to understand the anthropogenic effects,
glass electrode pH meter (EUTECH, 2700). Electrical conductivity was Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo) was recommended (Müller, 1969);
monitored using an EC meter (Hanna instruments HI, 2315). Sediment whereby Igeo = log2 Cn/1.5 Bn, where Cn is the concentration of metals
texture was analyzed using Particle Size Analyzer (PSA, Coulter, model in the test zone and Bn is the geochemical background in the upper crust
L 230). (Turekian and Wedepohl, 1961). Muller (1969) interpreted the classi-
fication as follows: ≤ 0: uncontaminated sediment; 0–1: unpolluted
2.4. Analytical methods sediment to moderately polluted; 1–2: moderately polluted; 2–3:
Moderately polluted to highly polluted; 3–4: highly polluted; 4–5:
Concentration of Mn, As, Cu, Zn, and Pb was determined following highly polluted to extremely polluted; and > 5 indicates extremely
EPA-ROC (1994) method, where a 0.5 g sediment sample was digested polluted.
by Aqua Regia technique. The final digested mixture was filtered Hakanson (1980) proposed Contamination Factor (CF) to assess the
through Whatman filter paper, and the heavy metal concentration was level of soil metal concentrations. The factor was determined as the
detected using ICP- MS Agilent 7500. division between metals level in the sample by the background value of
For the speciation study, a four-stage BCR (European Community heavy metals (Turekian and Wedepohl, 1961) (Hakanson, 1980).
Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction, modified by Rauret et al. Contamination Factor (CF) is interpreted as follows: < 1: no or low
(1999), was conducted to examine the mobility of metals in the soil. contamination; 1–3: moderate contamination; 3–6: considerable con-
The BCR fractions were determined via four steps: Step one (F1): tamination; and CF > 6 indicates very high contamination.
making an acid soluble fraction by adding 40 ml acetic acid to 1-g se- Potential Ecological Risk Index (PERI) was also established by
diment and shaking for 16 h. Step two (F2): making a reducible fraction Hakanson (1980). The PERI formula indicates the heavy metal propri-
by adding 40 ml hydroxyl ammonium chloride to residual F1 and eties and the environmental behavior of metal pollution in the sedi-
shaking for another 16 h. Step three (F3): making an oxidizable fraction ment. To calculate PERI, the following equations are used:
by adding 10 ml hydrogen peroxide (30%) to residual F2, which is then Cif = Cis/Cin (1)
digested at room temperature for 1 h. Another 10 ml of hydrogen per-
oxide was further added to this residue, which was digested at 85 °C Eri = Tir x Cif (2)
using a water bath for 1 h. Finally, 50 ml of ammonium acetate, was
PERI = ∑ Eri (3)
added at pH = 2 and shaken for 16 h. Step four (F4): making a residual
fraction using aqua regia, sequential extraction and analysis by ICP-MS, Where, Cif =
each element contamination factor, Cis
= content of ele-
Agilent 7500. ment in samples, Cin = reference value of element, Eri = potential eco-
logical risk index of a single element, and Tir = biological toxicity of a
2.5. Quality analysis single element (As = 10, Cu = 5, Pb = 5, Zn = 1 and Mn = 1)
(Soliman et al., 2015). According to the classification by Hakanson
As shown in Table 2, the Standard Reference Material (SRM), de- (1980): if PERI < 150 = low grade; 150 ≤ PERI < 300 = moderate
veloped by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), grade; 300 ≤ PERI < 600 = severe grade; and PERI > 600 = serious

3
M. ELTurk, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

grade. Cu, Mn and Zn compared to the current study site. This is anticipated as
Perin et al. (1985) suggested the use of risk assessment code (RAC) the east coast region is not heavily industrialized, unlike the west coast
to evaluate metal contamination in soil, by deploying the equation region (Dasar et al., 2009; Sukri et al., 2018). This shows that the west
below: coast posed a significant threat to the environment. Additionally, the
F1 present results in Klang estuary were also compared with the Kuala
RAC = ×100%. Selangor mangrove forest, where the Cu and As elements in the estuary
Total heavy metal concentration
were found to be higher than that of the forest area. A comparison with
Where, F1 equals Fraction step 1 (Li et al., 2016; Pan et al., 2013). previous studies shows that the persistence of heavy metals such as Cu
Perin et al. (1985) classified RAC scale as follows: < 1%: no risk, and As indicates that the source of pollution is from an anthropogenic
1–10%: low risk, 11–30%: medium risk, 31–50%: high risk, and source and is still ongoing, and that it may come from activities such as
RAC > 50%: very high risk. mining and smelting, fuel processing and combustion, wood protection,
chemical production and application, and disposal and combustion of
2.7. Statistical analyses municipal and industrial wastes (Popovic et al., 2001; Wang and
Mulligan, 2006).
The SPSS software v23.0 was utilized to characterize the relation-
ships between metals in the mangrove soil. The correlation between
physical properties and heavy metals was tested using Pearson's cor- 3.3. Heavy metal sequential extraction
relation.
The chemical partitioning of modified BCR sequential extraction for
3. Results and discussion each heavy metal is presented in Fig. 2. The heavy metal fractions in
Klang estuary sediments are summarized below:
3.1. Physical parameters The fractionation profile of Mn shows that it is typically bound to
oxidizable fraction, residual fraction, and acid solubles, the rest being
Table 4 shows the mean, standard deviation, and minimum and associated with the reducible fraction, suggesting create risk to marine
maximum variation of physical parameters in Klang estuary. According life (Jain et al., 2007). Tessier et al. (1979) suggested that the relatively
to Table 4, the pH is neutral in the mangrove sediment with a mean pH high degree of acid soluble Mn indicated that the metal exists in re-
of 7.01 in the study area. The neutral pH is probably due to the frequent duced state. Furthermore, Mn (II) oxidisation may be much slower than
tidal flooding, preventing it from becoming acidic in reducible condi- Fe (II) oxidisation in most natural waters (Tessier et al., 1979). This
tion (Li et al., 2007). The metallic cations show higher activity and fraction is sensitive to pH changes, and metal release is achieved
mobility at lower pH. Electrical conductivity (EC) shows a mean of through dissolution of a fraction of the solid material at pH close to 5.
9.50 ± 1.90. The grain size content in the sediment and sand was 12% The high bioavailability, mobility and potential toxicity of acid-soluble
and 80%, respectively. metals in aquatic organisms are of great concern.
The fractionation profile of Cu showed the higher part of it being
3.2. Heavy metal distribution in sediment bound to the residual fraction in the surface sediments of Klang estuary.
The Cu speciation distribution was in this order: Residual
The concentration of Cu, Pb, As, Zn, and Mn in sediments from fraction > Oxidizable fraction > Acid soluble > Reducible fraction.
Klang River estuary is shown in Table 5. The heavy metal mean con- An important part of Cu also correlates with the acid soluble fraction
centrations of the sediment follow this order: Mn > Zn > Pb > whereby it is easily available for aquatic organisms (Gadde and
As > Cu. According to SQGs as outlined by (MacDonald et al., 2000) Laitinen, 1974).
and the guidelines for the protection and the management in of aquatic In Zn, the fractionation profile indicated that the acid soluble
sediment quality in Ontario, Canada (MacDonald et al., 2000; Persaud fraction is the most significant. This is followed by reducible fraction,
et al., 1993), our results indicate that the concentrations of As and Pb where it could be associated with the Fe–Mn hydroxide fraction. The
exceeded the threshold effect level (TEL) but are still less than the percentage of Zn speciation distribution was in the order: Acid
probable effects level (PEL). In addition, the results showed that Mn, soluble > Reducible fraction > Residual fraction > Oxidizable frac-
Zn, and Cu were lower than the TEL and PEL values, indicating no tion. The acid soluble fraction is generally available in sediment. In
adverse biological impacts. The high level of As and Pb is due to the addition, sediment also has the carbonate portion in the form of asso-
nearness of the study area to industrial zones and industrial outlets in ciation with metallic element. The relatively high stability of ZnCO3
Port Klang (Sany et al., 2013). According to previous studies in the and co-precipitation with CaCO3 describes the link of heavy metals that
same study area, many contaminants such as wastewater, industrial may instantly remobilized in any environmental changes like salinity,
waste, and domestic waste are discharged directly into Klang River redox, pH, etc. (Deurer et al., 1978; Kumar et al., 2012).
(Sasekumar and Chong, 2005). As for As, the major part was bound to the residual fraction followed
The results were compared with previous studies (Haris and Aris, by Oxidizable fraction > Reducible fraction > Acid soluble. Kumar
2015) in the Klang area, and showed that the Cu and Pb concentration et al. (2012) indicated that a significant level of Oxidizable fraction
had doubled. This indicates continuing sources of pollution, which will shows that As is naturally bound to the sediments. Heavy metals in the
produce further negative effects on the environment. On the other residual fraction (R) are chemically stable and biologically inactive. The
hand, the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia recorded very low value of greater the percentage of metals present in this fraction, the smaller the
risk of the metals because this portion of the metals cannot be re-re-
Table 4 leased to water under normal conditions.
Physical properties, mean, and standard deviation. Finally, Pb shows that the residual fraction is the major part in its
Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation fractionation profile. The Pb speciation distribution was in the order:
Residual fraction > Oxidizable fraction > Reducible fraction > Acid
pH 6.17 7.86 7.01 0.41 soluble. A minor amount of the lead was found to be associated with
ECa 4.50 13.00 9.50 1.90
exchangeable fractions and bound to carbonate fractions, and therefore
Grain size (%) 2.00 20.30 11.68 4.96
Sand (%) 80.00 98.00 88.30 5.36 does not pose a risk to aquatic life.

a
EC = Electrical conductivity.

4
M. ELTurk, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

Table 5
The mean and standard deviation of total metals concentration in mangrove sediments and Sediment Quality Guidelines as reference.
Site Cu (ppm) Pb (ppm) As (ppm) Zn (ppm) Mn (ppm) Ref

Klang estuary 9.38 ± 10.73 37.39 ± 17.22 35.69 ± 27.99 22.46 ± 18.80 105 ± 16.17 This study
Port Klang 6.77 15.55 – 48.24 136.99 Haris & Aris (2015)
Kelantan river 6.74 20.82 – 18.67 39.4 Dasar et al. (2009)
Terengganu river 5.33 – – 12.56 15.95 Sukri et al. (2018)
Kuala Selangor estuary 3.55 76.63 20.74 28.84 153.30 ELTurk et al. (2018)
a
LEL 16 31 6 120 460 Persaud et al. (1993)
b
SEL 110 250 33 820 1100 Persaud et al. (1993)
c
TEL 31.6 35.8 9.79 121 – MacDonald et al. (2000)
d
PEL 149 128 33 459 – MacDonald et al. (2000)

a
LEL = Lowest Effect Level.
b
SEL = Severe Effect Level.
c
TEL = threshold effect level, indicates concentrations below which adverse effects on biota are rarely observed.
d
PEL = probable effects level, indicates concentrations above which adverse effects on biota are frequently observed.

Fig. 2. Heavy metal sequential extraction in Klang estuary, expressed in percentage. (F1) Acid soluble fraction, (F2) Reducible fraction, (F3) Oxidizable fraction, (F4)
residual fraction.

3.4. Risk assessment of sediment contamination significantly polluted by these metals.

3.4.1. Geo-accumulation index (Igeo)

3.4.2. Contamination factor (CF)
Table 6 presented the Igeo values in Klang estuary. The dominance of
Contamination factor (CF) was calculated to determine the con-
the heavy metals in the Igeo sediment follows the order: As > Pb >
tamination status in the sediment of Klang estuary. Table 6 shows the
Zn > Cu > Mn. According to the classification by Muller (1969), Igeo
contamination factor result. Our results for contamination factor of a
for As, Pb, Cu, Mn, and Zn in the sediments belongs to class zero,
single heavy metal element is as follows: As > Pb > Zn > Cu > Mn.
showing that the sediment in Klang mangrove estuary was not
According to Hakanson (1980), these results show a low degree of
contamination, except for As, which showed moderate contamination
Table 6 in mangrove sediment. Previous study in surface sediment in Port Klang
Evaluation on potential risk of heavy metals pollution and risk assessment in area indicated a significant impact of heavy metals in Port Klang,
sediments from the Klang estuary.
marinas, and shipyards in the Klang estuary area, which attributed to
Index As Cu Mn Pb Zn the discharge and leaching of protective paint from the port area (Haris
and Aris, 2015). This results indicates the rapid absorption of these
a
Igeo 0.38 −5.73 −6.77 −1.83 −3.98
b metals into the sediment particles. There is also discharge of solid waste
CF 2.74 0.037 0.013 0.467 0.13
c
Eri 27.45 0.187 0.0138 2.33 0.13 into the river from the nearby population, as well as sediments from
d
RAC 4.96% 28.62% 14.23% 1.38% 40.93% neighboring streams that join the main course of the river (Patel et al.,
2017).
a
Igeo = Geoaccumulation index.
b
CF = Contamination factor.
c
Eri = Potential ecological risk index of a single element. 3.4.3. Potential ecological risk index (PERI)
d
RAC = Risk assessment code. The mean of the potential ecological risk coefficient of PERI is

5
M. ELTurk, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 226 (2019) 106266

Table 7
Correlation between soil properties and heavy metals in Klang estuary.
As Zn Pb Cu Mn pH EC Grain size sand

As 1
Zn .695** 1
Pb .773** .906** 1
Cu 0.354 .707** .576** 1
Mn .620** .893** .841** .570** 1
pH −0.295 −0.354 −0.254 −0.169 -.407a 1
ECa 0.221 0.201 0.212 0.12 0.143 .411a 1
Grain size .493a .406a .484a 0.315 .495a 0.037 0.198 1
sand −0.25 −0.397 -.453a −0.31 -.510a 0.065 −0.141 -.829** 1

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

** EC = Electrical conductivity.
a
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

follows: As > Pb > Zn > Mn > Cu, where all results were lower
than 150, and therefore indicated low ecological risk. Even so, con-
tinuous monitoring of this site is suggested because it would benefit the
relevant authorities and help them direct their actions toward the
protection of this ecosystem.
3.4.4. Risk assessment code (RAC)
The RAC results shown in Table 6, indicating that the metal content
of Zn, Cu, and Mn in Klang sediment were the highest risk sources,
particularly from the physical-chemical changes occurring in the en-
vironment. The mean RAC of Zn value is 40.93%, which showed a high
ecological hazard release in the area. However, Cu and Mn with mean
RAC values of 28.26% and 14.23%, respectively, showed medium en-
vironmental risk, while Pb (1.38%) and As (4.96%) showed no en-
vironmental risk in the study area. In general, the order of the potential
risk is Zn > Cu > Mn > As > Pb.
3.5. Correlation analysis
The correlation between the physical properties and metals is pre-
sented in Table 7, which shows the degree of correlation between As,
Zn, Pb, Mn, and Cu and the related soil physical properties i.e. grain
size, sand, pH and EC).
A significant correlation was found between Pb, As, Cu, Mn, and Zn
due to their anthropogenic origin while pH was negatively correlated
with heavy metals. The study area recorded low pH, therefore, the
metallic cations are more mobile and show more activity. Electrical
conductivity (EC) was positively correlated with all studied metals.
Heavy metals gain increased adsorption capacity as pH increases, be-
cause of the reduced competition with H+ ions and increase in nega-
tive surface potential.
4. Conclusion
The heavy metals that posed the greatest threat to the Klang man-
grove ecosystem that can be found in the sediments of Klang estuary,
were As and Pb. Important correlations were observed between the
heavy metals in the Klang mangrove sediments of the study area, in-
dicating common contamination sources. The heavy metals assessed
were strongly attributed to anthropogenic sources, such as industrial
outlets and urban discharges. The risk assessment index used for this
evaluation showed consistency in assessing the situation of sediment
quality in Klang estuary as compared to the sediment quality guide-
lines. The results indicate that the remaining mangrove areas was not
severely threatened by the pollutants and although the concentration of
As sediment samples was higher than PEL, this is not predicted to affect
the marine organisms in the study area and the heavy metal level is still
below the level at which it would pose a risk to the environment. The
risk assessment for sediment i.e. PERI, CF and Igeo results, showed a low
heavy metal risk to the environment of Klang estuary. Also, the Risk
Assessment Code (RAC) showed a high environmental risk of Zn and Cu
and a medium environmental risk of Mn. This research suggests that
man-made pollution and contamination in the Klang estuary has been
mitigated by the mangrove ecosystem. Therefore, maintaining the
mangrove ecosystem is critical to ensure that its ecological role in bio-
filtering pollutants is protected. Authorities can use this evidence in
support of policies for the protection of this unique environment, and
for more sustainable development in the Klang coastal area.
Author contribution
ElTurk collected the samples and analyzed the data. All authors
contributed to the manuscript and gave final approval for publication.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to the Forest Research Institute Malaysia
(FRIM) for the financial support (GA006-2017). Appreciation is ex-
tended to the Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia, and Forest
Department of Selangor, for permission to conduct the study.
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