Study of heavy metals including mercury within Fiber Banks of Västernorrland and Norrbotten counties by portable X-RayFluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry

Discharge of waste water from pulp and paper industries has led to environmental impact in the formation of sediment layers, so called fiber banks, on the coast of Västernorrland and Norrbotten counties in Sweden. These fiber banks are thick underwater deposits which are highly contaminated with some toxic metals such as Al, Cr, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Hg. These metals can lead to several consequences for the environment, thus ultimately having harmful effects on living organisms. Our purpose is to study several of these toxic metals and analyze the concentration level by using portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometry for rapid sample characterization of wet samples. Field analyses are highly affected by moisture and it is difficult to obtain measurement accuracy. Therefore, moisture tests were performed by air drying samples at room temperature from 0 to 24 h. Some of the samples were oven dried for 48 h at 950 C, dried, grinded and turned into pellets and performed laboratory measurements to compare results with field measurements. Our aim is to provide an improved state of facts for decision makers to prevent and reduce marine pollution and to protect and restore ecosystems in order to avoid significant adverse impacts, and take actions for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans. A future outcome is to reach the sustainable development goal (SDG) stated by the UN at target 14.1 and 14.2 “Life below water”.