Sources of Potentially Toxic Elements in Sediments of the Mussulo Lagoon (Angola) and Implications for Human Health

Abstract

The Mussulo lagoon is a coastal environment located near Luanda, one of the SW African cities that has been growing more rapidly during the last decades. Geochemical, mineralogical, and grain-size data obtained for the lagoon sediments are analyzed together, in order to establish the factors that control the distribution of some potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Sediments from northern location tend to be enriched in feldspar and, despite some variability in grain-size distributions, in fine-grained detrital minerals; southern lagoon sediments display very homogenous grain-size distribution and are enriched in minerals associated with salt precipitation (halite and gypsum). Multivariate statistics reveal a close link between some PTEs, namely Co, Hg, Ni, and Pb, for which an anthropogenic source can be postulated. On the other end, As seems to be associated with natural authigenic precipitation in southern lagoon sectors. Sediments enriched in clay also tend to yield more Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu, but it is unclear whether their sources are natural or anthropogenic. Hazard indexes calculated for children are higher than 1 for As and Co, indicating potential non-carcinogenic risk. For the other elements, and for adults, there is no potential carcinogenic or non-carcinogenic risk.