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Assessment of arsenic and heavy metal pollution and ecological risk in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary, China

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Abstract

In order to investigate the pollution levels, sources and ecological risks of arsenic (As) and heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd) in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary, the surface sediment in areas of inshore coastal waters were sampled in October 2014 as the flow-sediment regulation project (FSRP) was implemented for 13 years. Results showed that the concentrations of As and heavy metals in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary were in the order of Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb > As > Cd. Higher levels of As, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb generally occurred in fine-grained sediments of the Yellow River estuary and the southeast region, which was consistent with the spatial distribution of clay. In contrast, higher concentrations of Cd were generally observed in northwest area of the Yellow River estuary and near the Qingshuigou estuary, which showed similarly spatial distribution with that of sand. The sediment quality guidelines (SQGS) and geoaccumulation indices (Igeo) indicated that the inshore sediments were polluted by Cu, Cd, As, Pb and Zn, and, among them, Cd pollution was more serious. Ecological risk indices (E i r ) demonstrated low risks for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and As, and high potential toxicity by Cd. The integrated ecological risk index implied that 6.8% of stations presented moderate risk, 4.5% of stations exhibited disastrous risk, and 88.7% of stations demonstrated considerable risk. Principal component analysis indicated that Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb and As might originate from common pollution sources, while Cr and Cd might share another similar sources. With the continuous implementation of FSRP, As and heavy metal levels in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary could be classified as stage I (2002–2010) and stage II (2010–2014). In the stage I, As, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb levels fluctuated but decreased significantly, whereas Cd concentrations showed little variation. In the stage II, As and heavy metal levels significantly increased although some little fluctuations occurred. The continuous accumulation of As and heavy metals (especially for Cd) in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary would occur again as the FSRP was implemented for 9 years (since 2010). The ecotoxicological risk of Cd, As, Ni and Cu in inshore sediments might be more serious since the accumulation of the four elements would be continuously occurred in future years. Next step, there will be long-term potential consequences for marine organism if effective measures are not taken to control the loadings of metal pollutants into estuary.

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(Data source: Ocean Environmental Quality Communique of China (SOA 2017))

Fig. 6

(Data source: Rui et al. (2008), Wang and Zhang (2002), Wu et al. (2007), Zhang et al. (2015), Wu et al. (2013), Zhuang and Gao (2014), Zhao et al. (2016), and Gao et al.(2015). Data in 2014 were provided by this paper)

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Acknowledgements

We appreciated the two anonymous reviewers and Dr. Chunyan Lu for their constructive comments. This study was financially supported by the Key foundation of Science and Technology Department of Fujian Province (No. 2016R1032-1), the Open Research Fund Program of Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Science for Yellow River Delta (Binzhou University) (No. 2015KFJJ02), the National Nature Science Foundation of China (No. 41371104), and the Award Program for Min River Scholar in Fujian Province.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Process (Fujian Normal University), Ministry of Education, Fuzhou, 350007, People’s Republic of China

    Qinghua Rao, Zhigao Sun, Liping Tian & Jing Li

  2. Institute of Geography, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, People’s Republic of China

    Qinghua Rao, Zhigao Sun, Liping Tian & Jing Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Measurement and Control System for Offshore Environment, Fuqing Branch of Fujian Normal University, Fujian Province University, Fuqing, 350300, People’s Republic of China

    Qinghua Rao

  4. School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, People’s Republic of China

    Wanlong Sun

  5. School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, 70803, USA

    Wenguang Sun

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  1. Qinghua Rao
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  2. Zhigao Sun
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Correspondence to Zhigao Sun.

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Rao, Q., Sun, Z., Tian, L. et al. Assessment of arsenic and heavy metal pollution and ecological risk in inshore sediments of the Yellow River estuary, China. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 32, 2889–2902 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-018-1588-z

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