Browsing by Author "Ntarisa, Amos Vincent Range"

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    Assessment of the impact of North Mara gold mine activities on heavy metal concentrations in river Mara fishusing edxrfspectrometry.
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2013) Ntarisa, Amos Vincent Range
    Samples of lungfish and catfish which are most consumed species of fish from River Marain Tarime District of Mara Regionwere analyzed for elemental concentrations using Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF)Spectrometry. Twenty samples of each fish species were collected from two sampling stations of Wegita (downstream) and Mrito (upstream) along River Maraat vicinity of North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM).The sampling stations were 70 km apart. Fifteenelements which are Na, Mg, Al, Cl, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, and I were detected in concentration above the Minimum Detection Limit (MDL)in samples of both fish species.The concentrations of toxic elements V, Co, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb were found to be below MDL of the EDXRF Spectrometrysystem used in this study.It is recommedend that different analytical system with lower MDL for these elements to be used to identify the exact concentration values in fish from River Mara near NMGM at Tarime.The samples of both lungfish and catfish from both sites had higher mean concentrations of Na, K, Cu, Cr and Ni compared to Maximum Tolerable Limits (MTLs) for these elements in fish set by FAO/WHO. Therefore, fish from River Mara are exposing people to toxic elements which are detrimental to their health. About67% of elements were found to be inhigher concentrations in lungfish from downstream than upstream. Out of these, the concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, Fe and Seweresignificantly ( ) higher in samples from downstream than samples from upstream. This might indicate more elemental contamination of the downstream river associated with the mining activities of NMGM. The concentrations of 87% of the elements were found to be higher in samples of lungfish than catfish. Hence, lungfish was found to be a better indicator of elemental contamination than catfish.