Heavy Metals in Groundwater using Synchrotron Radiation Total Reflection X‐Ray Analysis

Abstract

Abstract The environmental pollution problem has increased due to industrial and population growth. São Paulo and Campinas are examples of large urban centers that have grown in a disorderly manner and, today, present contamination problems which have also reached the groundwater. In order to obtain information about levels of heavy metals in groundwater, analyses were carried out with samples from well monitoring at Landfill Pirelli in Campinas and in some supplying wells in the Campinas region which are, in their majority, wells of industrial supply. The analytical technique used for achievement of the analysis is total reflection X‐ray fluorescence with synchrotron radiation. All measurements were performed at Synchrotron Light Source Laboratory, located in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. The determined elements in this research were Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, Ba, and Pb. The results were compared with the maximum permitted values (MPV) established by the Brazilian Health Department and, for Landfill Pirelli, the concentrations were higher than the permitted values for Ba and Pb, as was expected, because this landfill received residues during many years without control. In well supply, as in State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), elements such as Cr and Pb were not expected, so the monitoring of these wells is necessary in order to verify if these elements continue to be detected with values above the permitted values. The same elements were also detected in other supplying wells in the Campinas metropolitan region. For lead (Pb), values above the maximum were observed in 15 wells. The detection limits obtained varyied from 0.10 µg · L−1 to 7.91 µg · L−1 and were in agreement with the values presented by other analytical techniques.