Assessment of Impact of Zaatari Refugee Camp on Groundwater Pollution by Heavy Metals in Al-Zaatari Area, North Jordan

Abstract

Heavy metal (Zn, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni and Cr) concentration in fifteen groundwater samples of the Zaatari area were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for determination of the impact of Zaatari refugee camp on groundwater pollution with the above-mentioned heavy metals. The aim of this study is to assess the potential pollution of the groundwater in Al-Zaatari area with heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni and Cr) through measuring their concentrations in the groundwater samples obtained through wells located at the study area. The sources of Mn, Pb, Ni and Cr was found to be from natural sources related to the weathering of the basaltic rocks whereas Zn and Pb, Cu, Cd was attributed to anthropogenic sources such as fertilizers and pesticides in the agriculture, and various anthropogenic activities. The concentration of heavy metals in groundwater ranged between, 1.43 to 4.87 mg/l for Mn, 0.85 to 1.85 mg/l for Pb 0.7 to 0.26 mg/l, for Ni, 0.05-0.081 mg/l for Cd and 0.30 to 0.19 mg/l for Cr. The allowable limits for Jordanian Institute of Standards and Metrology (JISM), 2008 are Mn = 0.1 mg/l, Pb = 0.01 mg/l, Ni = 0.02 mg/l, Cd = 0.003 and Cr = 0.005 mg/l respectively. The results also showed that the concentrations of Mn, Pb, Cd, Ni and Cr are exceeding the desirable limits in many groundwater sample which was attributed to anthropogenic activity whereas Cu, Zn, Fe were below the desirable limits and  could be attributed to natural source related to rock formation of basaltic origin.