The heavy metal concentration in different environmental samples (natural waters, soil, sediments) is important for the assessment of the environmental quality and pollution sources. The soil contamination creates a risk of deep and shallow groundwater pollution. Low Danube transboundary region has a strong impact from different pollution sources which are situated in these countries: industrial activity, polluted sites, agriculture, landffils etc. The aim of this study is an assessment of heavy metal concentration in different environmental objects in samples from natural and polluted sites. The concentration of heavy metals was analysed in water and sediments from deltaic area and in soil samples from selected polluted sites from Romania and Republic of Moldova. This analytical technique allows the determination of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Pb, Cd, Al, Ni, Co, Mo, Cr, As in different environmental media. The higher concentration of several heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd,As) in sediments from Danube Delta and Prut River was determined in the comparison with background concentration. Soil from polluted sites showed a exceeding of the Maximal Admissible Concentration (MAC) for Pb by more that 50 times (1599.0 mg/kg), for Cu by 556 times and for Zn by 8.8 times. Other heavy metals have a concentration at regional background level and did not exceed MAC. The comparison of heavy metal concentration in river sediments and soil from polluted sites showed that possible pollution sources of Pb, Cu and Zn exist in these areas. Cd and As have other pollution sources, not from the territory of Republic of Moldova. The obtained results can be used for the Environmental Risk Assessment procedure in studied area. This study work is carried out in the frame of Romanian-Moldavian-Ukrainian cross- border cooperation (Project MIS ETC 1676) between Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Institute of Zoology and Institute of Geology and Seismology, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, and Ukrainian Scientific Centre for Ecology of the Sea. Keywords: trace elements, AAS technique, soil, ediments.
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