Identification of Anthropogenic Materials in Lake Ciburuy Sediments Using Physico-Chemical Properties and Pollution Index

Abstract

Lake Ciburuy area is highly impacted by a wide range of human activities, including residential areas, rice fields, animal husbandry, plantations, dense vehicular traffic, and various industries, leading to the accumulation of pollutants. Particulates generated by the anthropogenic activities will be carried away and settle with the eroded soil to become sediment in the lake. This could cause serious problems in the aquatic environment if there is no monitoring study. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the anthropogenic material produced by human activities using physical and chemical properties analyses and pollution index calculations. The analysis of physical properties showed that Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solid (TDS), and magnetic susceptibility were within the range of 30 – 790 µS/cm, 29 – 555 mg/L, 7.310 – 3431.956 ×10^-8 m³/kg, respectively. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the hysteresis parameter indicated that the samples contain ferrimagnetic materials, particularly magnetite with a mixture of Pseudo-Single Domain (PSD) and Multi-Domain (MD). The Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) identified the morphology of the magnetic mineral with different shapes, such as octahedral and spherule. Furthermore, the spherule shape indicated the presence of anthropogenic materials in the sample. In terms of chemical properties, this study measured the pH and Potential Toxic Elements (PTEs) in the sediments. The pH ranged from 7.2-8.9, while the PTEs showed moderate to very severe levels of contamination by Mn, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cu, which exceeded the sediment quality standard. The PCA reveals the interconnection between physical and chemical properties, which can identify pollutants derived from anthropogenic materials, as well as indicate low, medium, and high levels of pollution in the lake area.