Heavy Metals in the Water Column of Iloilo- Guimaras Jetty Port (Parola Wharf )
Jetty Port (Parola Wharf) in Iloilo City is a depot of passengers going toGuimaras, Philippines. Considering the dearth of studies on the presence of heavymetals in this area, this study was conducted. It aimed to determine the presenceand quantities of available heavy metals specifically lead, cadmium and chromiumin the water column (surface, middle and bottom) of Iloilo-Guimaras Jetty Port. Inaddition, water physicochemical parameters were also measured such as pH, salinityand temperature, in situ. Three sampling areas were identified in the Jetty Port.One liter was collected in the surface, middle and bottom layer of each sampling area for a total of nine seawater samples. The seawater samples were immediatelytransported to the CAS-Analytical Service Laboratory of UPV, Miag-ao, Iloilofor the quantification of available heavy metals through flame atomic absorptionspectrophotometric (FAAS) method. Ph values range from 6.0-7.333, 12.0-13.167ppm for salinity and 27.333-27.567 0C for three sampling areas. Average cadmium,chromium and lead were higher at station 3 with 0.69 mg/L, 0.81 mg/L and 0.339mg/L, respectively. The results showed that mean of Cr > Pb > Cd < Cr in the watercolumn of the three sampling areas, however is not significant, p>.05. Availablecadmium, chromium and lead exceeded the permissive value. This study will giveinformation to the public about the present heavy metal status of the Jetty Port.