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Mass burden and estimated flux of heavy metals in Pakistan coast: sedimentary pollution and eco-toxicological concerns

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Abstract

Heavy-metal contamination in coastal areas poses a serious threat to aquatic life and public health due to their high toxicity and bio-accumulation potential. In the present study, levels of different heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn, and Mn), their spatial distribution, geochemical status, and enrichment indices (Cu, Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Pb, Zn) were investigated in the sediment samples from 18 coastal sites of Pakistan. The analyses of coastal sediments indicated the presence of heavy metals in order such as Cr > Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Mn > Co > Cd. Geo-accumulation index (I geo), enrichment factor (EF), and contamination factor (CF) showed diverse range in heavy-metal enrichment site by site. Pollution load index (PLI) has shown that average pollution load along the entire coastal belt was not significant. Based on the mean effect range medium quotient, coastal sediments of Pakistan had 21 % probability of toxicity. The estimated sedimentary load of selected heavy metals was recorded in the range of 0.3–44.7 g/cm2/year, while the depositional flux was in the range of 0.07–43.5 t/year. Heavy-metal inventories of 9.8 × 102–3.8 × 105 t were estimated in the coastal sediments of Pakistan. The enrichment and contamination factors (EF and CF) suggested significant influence of anthropogenic and industrial activities along the coastal belt of Pakistan.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to thank WWF, Pakistan, for providing the transport facilities during fieldwork. The authors highly acknowledge Mr. Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry for his expertise in field sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Biology and Ecotoxicology Laboratory, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Department of Environmental Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Usman Ali & Riffat Naseem Malik

  2. State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

    Jabir Hussain Syed

  3. Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering (IESE), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan

    Ch. Tahir Mehmood

  4. Institute of Environmental Science of Aragon (IUCA), University of Zaragoza, C/Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain

    Laura Sánchez-García

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

    Azeem Khalid

  6. Environmental Biology Laboratory, Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry

Authors
  1. Usman Ali
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  2. Riffat Naseem Malik
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  3. Jabir Hussain Syed
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  4. Ch. Tahir Mehmood
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  5. Laura Sánchez-García
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  6. Azeem Khalid
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  7. Muhammad Jamshed Iqbal Chaudhry
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Riffat Naseem Malik.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Highlights

• First comprehensive survey to asses heavy metals in the coastal sediments of Pakistan.

• ERM values indicating no serious biological risk to coastal areas of Pakistan.

• EF and CF suggested significant influence of industrial activities on coastal sediments.

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Ali, U., Malik, R.N., Syed, J.H. et al. Mass burden and estimated flux of heavy metals in Pakistan coast: sedimentary pollution and eco-toxicological concerns. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 4316–4326 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3612-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3612-2

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