DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METAL CONTENTS IN SURFACE WATER BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA - MASS SPECTROMETRY: A CASE STUDY OF IALOMITA RIVER, ROMANIA

Heavy metals are among the most significant surface water pollutants being extremely harmful to the environment and human health, in high concentrations. The aim of this study is to determine the heavy metals content (e.g. Cd, Cr, Pb, Cu, Ni and Fe), in order to establish the level of pollution at the surface waters of Ialomita River, from Romania, tributary of Danube river. A number of 66 water samples were collected from Ialomita River, in two representative points (i.e. upstream and downstream of Targoviste City) in four seasons during of the years 2015-2016. The elemental concentrations, in water samples, were obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) technique using Thermo Scientific iCAP Qc system. A correlation between the heavy metal concentrations determined by ICP-MS spectrometry technique and physicochemical parameters: pH, turbidity, conductivity and salinity, was performed. Investigation has confirmed that high concentration of Pb, Cu and Fe are not appropriate for formation and development of aquatic organisms and may disturb the ecosystem of Ialomita River. Also, the obtained results shown very clearly that the load of analyzed metals (i.e. Pb, Fe, Cr, Cu, and Ni), were higher in samples collected from Ialomita River, downstream of Targoviste City.