Assessment of heavy metal levels in surface sediments of estuaries and adjacent coastal areas in China

Abstract

This article investigates the variations of contamination levels of heavy metals such as copper, lead, chromium, cadmium, zinc, arsenic, and mercury over time in surface sediments of the Changjiang River Estuary (CRE), Yellow River Estuary (YRE), Pearl River Estuary (PRE), and their adjacent coastal areas in China. The contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), and geoaccumulation index (I_geo) are used to evaluate the quality of the surface sediments in the study areas. The results showed that the CRE, YRE, and their adjacent coastal areas were at a low risk of contamination in terms of heavy metals, while the PRE and its adjacent coastal area were at a moderate level. By comparison, the concentrations of heavy metals in the surface sediments of the YRE and its adjacent coastal area were relatively lower than those in the CRE, PRE, and their adjacent coastal areas.

Keywords

Changjiang River Estuary / Yellow River Estuary / Pearl River Estuary / surface sediment / heavy metal

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Project of Tianjin with Spill Oil Accident from Penglai Oil field 19-3 Compensation (No. 19-3BC2014-05).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg