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Distribution and bioaccumulation of lead in the coastal watersheds of the Northern Bohai and Yellow Seas in China

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Abstract

In this study, the concentration of lead ([Pb]) in the surface water, sediments, soils and muscles of carp and crab in the upstream and downstream coastal watersheds along the Northern Bohai and Yellow Seas (NBYS) in China was investigated and the risks of Pb were evaluated. The mean [Pb] in the downstream water (2.62 μg/L) and sediments [24.5 mg/kg, dry mass (dm)] was greater than the Chinese seawater quality standard for class I (1 μg/L) and the regional background soil concentration (11.5 mg Pb/kg, dm), respectively. Approximately 37 % of the soils, mainly from the upstream regions, had [Pb] greater than the regional background concentration of 21.4 mg/kg, dm. The sites with relatively large [Pb] in the water, sediments and soils were located in the coastal watersheds of Tangshan and Huludao. The large enrichment factors in the sediments (2.41) and soils (2.22) suggested that human activities influenced the soils and sediments in this region more than in the other regions. Relatively large [Pb] was found in the crabs that were obtained from the upstream reaches of the Shuanglong and Daliao Rivers and the downstream reaches of the Luanhe and Liugu Rivers. Most of the crabs from the upstream regions contained greater [Pb] than the permissible limit for human consumption [0.3 mg/kg, wet mass (wm)]. The risk indices of the water, carp and crabs for humans were 0.002, 0.01 and 0.006, respectively. Based on the bioaccumulation factors, biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) and human risk indices, it was concluded that the human risks associated with crab were lower than those of carp despite the greater accumulation of Pb by the crabs from the water and sediments. Finally, the [Pb] in the sediments was significantly correlated with the [Pb] in the soils, which indicated that the same sources of Pb were responsible for the [Pb] in the sediments and soils in the coastal watersheds of the NBYS in China.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 41271502 and 41071355, National Fundamental Field Study Program with Grant No. 2013FY111100, Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. XDB03030504, the National International S&T Cooperation Program under Grant No. 2012DFA91150, the Einstein Professorship Program, CAS, and the Project of the State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology with Grant No. SKLURE2008-1-04. Portions of the research were supported by a Discovery Grant from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Project No. 6807).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Peiru Kong, Wei Luo, Yonglong Lu, Tieyu Wang, Wentao Jiao & Wenyou Hu

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Peiru Kong

  3. Department of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Jonathan E. Naile, Jong Seong Khim & John P. Giesy

  4. Department of Zoology, Center for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    John P. Giesy

  5. Department of Biology and Chemistry and State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong, SAR, China

    John P. Giesy

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  1. Peiru Kong
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  2. Wei Luo
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  3. Yonglong Lu
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Correspondence to Wei Luo.

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Kong, P., Luo, W., Lu, Y. et al. Distribution and bioaccumulation of lead in the coastal watersheds of the Northern Bohai and Yellow Seas in China. Environ Geochem Health 37, 491–506 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9664-x

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