ORIGINAL ARTICLE Accumulation of potentially toxic elements in sediments in Budi Lagoon, Araucania Region, Chile J. Tapia • L. Vargas-Chacoff • C. Bertra ´n • F. Pen ˜ a-Corte ´s • E. Hauenstein • R. Schlatter • A. Valderrama • C. Lizana • P. Fierro Received: 25 October 2013 / Accepted: 20 April 2014 / Published online: 8 May 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Fe and Zn were determined in superficial sediments extracted from nine zones of Budi Lagoon, located in the Araucanı ´a Region (Chile). The concentrations of these metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy and the method was validated using certified reference material (marine sediment). The concentration ranges found for the trace elements were: Pb \ 0.5; Cd \ 0.2–3.9; Cu 21.8–61.9; Ni 31.2–59.4; Zn 54.5–94.8 mgkg -1 (dry weight). The elements that registered the highest concen- trations were Mn 285.4–989.8 mgkg -1 and Fe 4.8–10.6 %. The lagoon cluster analysis of the stations was divided into three groups (Temo station with high Cu and low Mn concentrations, Bolleco, Comue ´, Allipe ´n and Deume 3 stations presented highest Cd concentration, and another group Botapulli, Rı ´o Budi, Deume 2 and Deume 1 stations presented low levels of Cd). The textural characteristics of the sediment were determined (gravel, sand and mud) and the results were correlated with the concentrations of the metals in the various study zones. The sediments of Budi Lagoon presented high levels of Fe and Mn, which are of natural origin and exceed the maximum values recorded by many authors. With respect to the recorded concentrations for Cd, Cu, Ni and Zn, are within the ranges published by other authors in similar works. The Pb element was not detected. The results were subjected to statistical analysis to evaluate the correlations between the content of the elements and obtain the site of sediment. Keywords Budi Lagoon  Sediments  Toxic metals  Atomic absorption spectrometry Introduction In recent decades, the scientific community has paid increasing attention to detect the presence of certain potentially toxic elements in different kinds of matrices: water (continental and marine), sediments, aquatic organ- isms (fish, molluscs, algae) and foods in general (De Gregori et al. 1992; Marcovecchio 2004; Franc et al. 2005; Yilmaz et al. 2007; Samir et al. 2008; El-Hasan and Jiries 2001 Tapia et al. 2010, 2012). The reason behind this great interest in finding out the concentration of certain metals, even at trace level, in the various kinds of matrices, is due basically to the fact that over the years the degree of tox- icity of certain metals for human beings has been discov- ered. In some cases, the chemical feature in which they are toxic or harmful for human health has been revealed, as well as the role which they act in certain enzyme processes (Jennett et al. 1980; Leonard and Lauwerys 1980; Langard and Vigander 1982; Nriega and Nieboer 1988; Pa ´ez-Ozuna 1996; Baird 2001; Barquero-Quiro ´s et al. 2001; Bradl et al. 2005; El-Hasan et al. 2011; Gonza ´lez et al. 2012). The metals, unlike the majority of organic compounds, do not degrade either biologically or chemically in nature (Chiang 1988). They persist in the environment, and because of their stability may be transferred over J. Tapia (&)  A. Valderrama  C. Lizana Institute of Natural Resources Chemistry, Universidad de Talca, Talca, Chile e-mail: jtapia@utalca.cl L. Vargas-Chacoff (&)  C. Bertra ´n  R. Schlatter  P. Fierro Institute of Marine Science and Limnology, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile e-mail: luis.vargas@uach.cl F. Pen ˜a-Corte ´s  E. Hauenstein Faculty of Natural Resources, Universidad Cato ´lica de Temuco, Temuco, Chile 123 Environ Earth Sci (2014) 72:4283–4290 DOI 10.1007/s12665-014-3324-4