Abstract:
Water and surface sediment samples from Rivers Sabaki, Ramisi and Vevesi that flow into the Indian Ocean
coast of Kenya were analysed for heavy metals. The sediment concentrations of exchangeable cations (in
μg/g) for Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn ranged from 0.10 to 506.75 (for Mn at Sabaki), constituting between
2% and 20% of the total metal concentrations obtained by digestion with strong acid. Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn
were more leachable with 0.1 N HCl. The total dissolved metal in water and the total sediment concentrations
for Ag, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn are given in the text. For dissolved metals, the metal/Mn ratios
indicated higher concentrations of Ag in Sabaki River, Cd in Ramisi, Ni in Sabaki and Pb in Ramisi,
respectively. In sediments, the metal/Mn ratios showed higher enrichment of Ag in Ramisi, Cd in Sabaki and
Vevesi, and Zn in Sabaki, respectively. Enrichment factors showed elevated levels of Cd, Pb and Zn in
sediment in River Sabaki and River Vevesi that were due to anthropogenic inputs through Athi River. The
total dissolved metal concentration ranges for the three rivers were comparable with those ranges reported in
rivers in South Africa but the sediment concentrations were below those of rivers in Europe and Asia where
anthropogenic addition of some of the toxic elements such as Cu, Pb and Cd is evidently higher.
