Advances in Analytical Chemistry 2019, 9(2): 23-33 DOI: 10.5923/j.aac.20190902.01 Validation of the Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) for Heavy Metal Analysis and Geochemical Exploration of Sediment Samples from the Sebangan River Asare Ebenezer Aquisman 1,2,* , Zaini Bin Assim 1 , Rafeah Binti Wahi 1 , Droepenu Eric Kwabena 1,2 , Wilson Festus 3 1 Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak State, Malaysia 2 Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, AE1, Kwabenya –Accra, Ghana 3 Graduate School, University of Education Winneba, Central Region, Ghana Abstract This study was to validate the Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) in the determination of heavy metals using surface sediments from the Sebangan (estuary of Sadong River), Sarawak State, Malaysia as a case study. Aqua regia procedure was used to extract the trace elements from the sediments. The Scanning Electron Microscope was used to analyse and investigate the microstructure morphology and chemical composition characterizations of the sediments. The results of the examination confirmed to the fact that the technique validated was appropriate and less laborious for the determination of the 12 metals of interest (Al, Mn, Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Cr, Ni, Co, Zn and Pb) in the sediment. Massive deposits of sharp teeth granite and quartz particles of distinct tetrahedral conformation with plus size were observed in the samples investigated. Keywords Validation, Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, Aqua regia, Sediment, Scanning Electron Microscope 1. Introduction A challenge exists in the estimation of the concentrations of trace elements in sediment, soil and water samples in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The results attained usually differ with respect to the analytical technique employed [1-4]. Heavy metals pose a severe threat as pollutants of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems because of their noxiousness and tenacity in infinitesimal proportions. Mercury (Hg), Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr) and Nickel (Ni) are by far the most profuse, tenacious and deadly heavy metals prevailing in the biosphere [5-7]. Sediments are reservoirs of a variation of biological and chemical waste including trace quantities of metals such as Mn, Co, Ni, Mo, Cu, Cd and Cr. The physiognomies of metals dissolved in water and sediments depend on the character of the metal species. Thus the speciation of metals is vital in the environmental chemistry of natural aquatic systems and water from sewage systems [7,8]. According to [7], the chemical nature and possible occurrence of elements related to the sediment load can be deduced by the extraction * Corresponding author: aquisman1989@gmail.com (Asare Ebenezer Aquisman) Published online at http://journal.sapub.org/aac Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Scientific & Academic Publishing This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ techniques connecting the use of a variability of reagents. Consequently, [5], opined that the determination of metal speciation with sequential extraction technique provides a vital approach for the assessment of the methods of occurrence and dissemination of heavy metals in dynamic atmospheres especially where metal concentration scattering patterns can be credited to a diversity of lithogenic and human-induced geochemical interactions. According to [9], speciation analysis of an element is the estimation of the individual concentrations of the various chemical forms of that element which constitute the total concentration of that element in a sample. Speciation is significant to the comprehension of trace element toxicity, in both aquatic and biological systems. Chemical speciation methods contribute data on bioavailability [6,7]. Numerous speciation researches on trace elements involving natural waters, aquatic organisms, sediments and soils have been conducted over the years. Several modern analytical techniques are available for reliable speciation studies in waters and sediments exist, including ultrafiltration, electrophoresis, ion exchange, dialysis, liquid-liquid extraction, polarography, anodic stripping voltammetry, AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry) [1-4,10], ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectroscopic) [6-8,11] and ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometry) [5-8,11]. The Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is a significant instrumental technique for the determination of these metals because of its numerous brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Unimas Institutional Repository