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Heavy metals and nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) in sediments: relationships to land uses, environmental risks, and management

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Abstract

Management of sediments in polluted rivers requires an inventory of sediment quantities as well as their nutrient and metal contents and the chemical forms of pollutants. We investigated the influence of three major land uses (i.e., orange plantation—OP, OP + residential + industrial—OPRI, and residential + industrial—RI) on the quality of surface sediments (0–20 cm below water/sediment interface) at the Sanyang Wetland (China). The total contents of metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) and nutrients (C, N, and P) as well as metal speciation in sediments were examined. GIS technology was used to estimate the volume of sediments needed to calculate the amounts of stored nutrients and metals in sediments. The surface sediments in the 3.2-km2 study area contain more than 2800 Mg C, 200 Mg N, and 100 Mg P. OPRI and RI land uses contribute more total C, N, P, Zn, and Cd to sediments than OP land use. High contents of C, N, and P may provide options to recycle the sediments as fertilizer but must be used with caution due to high levels of metals. Total Cd in sediments is at an order of magnitude (up to 59 mg kg−1) higher than the Level III criterion in the Chinese Environmental Quality Standards for Soil. Sediments in all land uses have very high risks due to >50% exchangeable + carbonate-bound Zn, Ni, and Cd. It is suggested that toxicity tests be conducted to better assess the environmental risks associated with any potential use of sediments.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the support from the Zhejiang Provincial and Wenzhou Municipal governments through the Foreign Experts program to undertake this study. Drs. JM Arocena, RW Thring, and JB Li acknowledge the Discovery Grant program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada that enabled them to participate in this research collaboration. This study was funded by the Department of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province (Project No. 2012C23023), Zhejiang Environmental Protection Bureau (Project No. 2011B26), and Wenzhou Science and Technology Bureau (Project No. S20150022). The authors dedicate this paper to the memory of co-author Dr. Joselito Arocena, a respected researcher in the field of soil science, and a friend, who sadly passed away on December 20, 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Joint Research Institute of Ecology and Environment, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China

    Yubao Li, Joselito M. Arocena, Ronald W. Thring & Jianbing Li

  2. Joint Research Institute of Ecology and Environment, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

    Yubao Li, Joselito M. Arocena, Ronald W. Thring & Jianbing Li

  3. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325025, China

    Yubao Li, Joselito M. Arocena, Ronald W. Thring & Jianbing Li

  4. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory for Subtropical Water Environment and Marine Biological Resources Protection, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, China

    Yubao Li

  5. Environmental Science and Engineering Programs, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, V2N 4Z9, Canada

    Joselito M. Arocena, Ronald W. Thring & Jianbing Li

  6. College of Chemistry and Material Engineering, Wenzhou University, Wenzhou, 325025, China

    Qiao Zhang

Authors
  1. Yubao Li
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  2. Joselito M. Arocena
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  3. Qiao Zhang
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  4. Ronald W. Thring
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  5. Jianbing Li
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Correspondence to Yubao Li.

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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang

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Li, Y., Arocena, J.M., Zhang, Q. et al. Heavy metals and nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus) in sediments: relationships to land uses, environmental risks, and management. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 7403–7412 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-8385-y

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