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Accumulation and potential ecological risks of Heavy Metals in sediments from Rivers in the Beijing–Tianjin Area

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Abstract

Human activities can introduce heavy metals to water bodies, where they are then deposited in sediments. The risks, spatial distributions, and toxicities of heavy metals in sediment were investigated along the North Canal in the densely Beijing–Tianjin area. The average geoaccumulation index ranged from 0.2 to 2.91 and the highest value was obtained for Cd. All the pollution load indexes were greater than one, indicating that the heavy metals originated from anthropogenic sources. The risk indexes at three sampling points were greater than 300, indicating high potential ecological risk. Two probable effect concentration quotient values greater than 0.5, suggesting potential toxicity to certain sediment-dwelling organisms. Identification and evalution heavy metals could assist in improvement of the water quality, and support management strategies to restore the environment.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (grant number 2019B110205002); the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant number 2018058); and the National Major Science and Technology Program for Water Pollution Control and Treatment (grant number 2017ZX07107-004). We thank Gabrielle David, PhD, from Liwen Bianji (Edanz) (www.liwenbianji.cn/), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100085, Beijing, China

    Shengguang Yuan, Wenqiang Zhang, Zhenhan Li & Baoqing Shan

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Shengguang Yuan, Zhenhan Li & Baoqing Shan

  3. Beijing Forestry University, 100083, Beijing, China

    Wenye Li

  4. Hebei University of Engineering, 056038, Handan, China

    Minshan Wu

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  1. Shengguang Yuan
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  2. Wenqiang Zhang
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  4. Zhenhan Li
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  6. Baoqing Shan
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Correspondence to Wenqiang Zhang.

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Yuan, S., Zhang, W., Li, W. et al. Accumulation and potential ecological risks of Heavy Metals in sediments from Rivers in the Beijing–Tianjin Area. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 109, 691–697 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-022-03561-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-022-03561-z

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