Investigating the impact of oil shales spread on the contamination level of fluvial sediments (case study: Qalikuh area of Lorestan, southwest of Iran)

The present research investigates the contamination of fluvial sediments Gashun and Pirbadush Streams of the Qolyan River in the Qalikuh area knowing that the river runs through bodies of oil shales. For this purpose, 15 sediment samples were collected randomly. The samples were subjected to ICP-MS analysis to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals in them. Most of the changes were related to 11 heavy elements (Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cu, Mo, Ni, V, Zn, Cr, Pb) with some being toxic metals (As, Cd, Pb). Evaluation of environmental indices like l-geo, EF, CF, PLI, EI, RI, and sediment quality criteria and comparison to global standards through statistical analyses were done. According to Pearson's correlation coefficient, all metals are correlated with each other except silver. By performing PCA, three components were identified. Based on the outcomes of CA, the metals could be grouped into four clusters. [Received: January 26, 2023; Accepted: August 14, 2023]