Contents and sources of Cd and As in the sediment of the Second Songhua River, China

Total concentrations of As and Cd in the sediment of the Second Songhua River from Jilin City to Harbin City were determined and their source were investigated employing Fe as a conservative reference element. Results indicated that the total concentrations of As and Cd in the surface sediment of the Second Songhua River were in the range of 2.7 to 8.9 mg kg(-1) and 0.05 to 0.63 mg kg(-1), respectively, with a gradually decreasing trend from Jilin City to Harbi City along the river. The total concentrations of As and Cd in a typical 0-48 cm depth profile of sediment were in the range of 3.7 similar to 11.5 mg kg(-1) and 0.16 similar to 0.9 mg kg(-1), respectively. In addition, the top and bottom layers of this sediment profile contained higher As and Cd than the middle layers. As in the sediment occurs as natural sources, while part of Cd in the sediment was from anthropogenic sources, probably from effluent discharge from Jilin City and Songyua City as well as atmospheric precipitate of coal burning.