Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Heavy metal pollution in surface sediments of Ghareh-Aghaj River, one of the longest perennial rivers in Iran

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

River heavy metal contamination (HM) is a serious growing concern across the globe. In Iran, particularly, rivers serve as the most important freshwater resource and underlie the majority of water-demanding activities, resulting in highly polluted rivers. In central Iran, the Ghareh-Aghaj River supports many industrial, municipal, and agricultural land-uses along its path to the Persian Gulf. Although there may be reciprocal HM effects, no study has yet provided supporting scientific evidence on the river’s sediment HM content that might affect the sensitive biodiversity of the river and the Persian Gulf. This study measured the concentrations of five HMs at 11 susceptible and accessible locations along the river as follows: Arsenic (41.83 mg/kg) > Nickel (38.08 mg/kg) > Zinc (24.46 mg/kg) > Copper (18.86 mg/kg) > Lead (4.97 mg/kg). The HM distributions were uniform due to insignificant correlations and high coefficient of variations. According to the results, the river was not polluted with Cu, Zn, and Pb, partly with Ni, and highly with As. The concentration of As exceeded natural values in the river midstream zone and the seawardmost station where the river is exposed to intense agriculture and extensive use of arsenical pesticides and herbicides. This study highlighted the Ghareh-Aghaj River as worthy of further HM investigation, particularly As and urged implementation of HM elimination and monitoring measures to ensure their health and well-functioning.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrahim G (2005) Holocene sediments of Tamaki Estuary: characterisation and impact of recent human activity on an urban estuary in Auckland, New Zealand. ResearchSpace@ Auckland

  • Alahabadi A, Malvandi H (2018) Contamination and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals and metalloids in surface sediments of the Tajan River, Iran. Mar Pollut Bull 133:741–749

    Google Scholar 

  • APHA (2005) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater. APHA Washington DC, USA

  • Ashraf S et al (2019) Compounding effects of human activities and climatic changes on surface water availability in Iran. Clim Change 152:379–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagheri H, Alinejad S, DarvishBastami K (2011) Heavy metals (Co, Cr, Cd, Ni, Pb and Zn) in sediment of Gorganrud River, Iran. Res J Environ Toxicol 5:147–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Bahrami M, Rahimi A (2009) Calculation of the transpotation of the total sediment yield of Ghareh-Aghaj River at Karar Dam site using hydraulic methods. Iran J ApplGeol 5:220–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Barkett MO, Akün E (2018) Heavy metal contents of contaminated soils and ecological risk assessment in abandoned copper mine harbor in Yedidalga, Northern Cyprus. Environ Earth Sci 77:378

    Google Scholar 

  • Black CA, Evans D, White J, Ensminger L, Clarke F (1965) Methods of soil analysis. American Society of Agronomy. Madison, Wisconsin, part I, pp 1–770

  • Bouyoucos GJ (1962) Hydrometer method improved for making particle size analyses of soils 1. Agron J 54:464–465

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowen HJM (1979) Environmental chemistry of the elements. Academic Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Buat-Ménard P (1979) Influence de la retombée atmosphérique sur la chimie des métaux en trace dans la matière en suspension de l’Atlantique Nord. Thèse de Doctorat d'Etat, Sciences, Paris 7

  • Chapman HD (1965) Cation exchange capacity. In: Black CA (ed) Methods of soil analysis. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, pp. 891–901

  • Charkhabi AH, Sakizadeh M, Rafiee G (2005) Seasonal fluctuation in heavy metal pollution in Iran s Siahroud River-a preliminary study (7 pp). Environ Sci Pollut Res 12:264–270

    Google Scholar 

  • Diagomanolin V, Farhang M, Ghazi-Khansari M, Jafarzadeh N (2004) Heavy metals (Ni, Cr, Cu) in the karoon waterway river, Iran. ToxicolLett 151:63–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Dou Y, Li J, Zhao J, Hu B, Yang S (2013) Distribution, enrichment and source of heavy metals in surface sediments of the eastern Beibu Bay, South China Sea. Mar Pollut Bull 67:137–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadaei A, Dehghani MH, Nasseri S, Mahvi AH, Rastkari N, Shayeghi M (2012) Organophosphorous pesticides in surface water of Iran. Bull Environ ContamToxicol 88:867–869

    Google Scholar 

  • Fattahi M, Jahangiri H (2012) The relations between the fractal properties of the river networks and the river flow time series. Int J Geol Environ Eng 6:111–116

    Google Scholar 

  • Goorzadi M, Vahabzadeh G, Ghanbarpour M, Karbassi A (2009) Assessment of heavy metal pollution in Tilehbon River sediments, Iran. J ApplSci 9:1190–1193

    Google Scholar 

  • Hakanson L (1980) An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach . Water Res 14:975–1001

    Google Scholar 

  • Jafarabadi AR, Bakhtiyari AR, Toosi AS, Jadot C (2017) Spatial distribution, ecological and health risk assessment of heavy metals in marine surface sediments and coastal seawaters of fringing coral reefs of the Persian Gulf, Iran. Chemosphere 185:1090–1111

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabata-Pendias A (2010) Trace elements in soils and plants, 4th edn. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Karimian S, Chamani A, Shams M (2020) Evaluation of heavy metal pollution in the Zayandeh-Rud River as the only permanent river in the central plateau of Iran. Environ Monit Assess 192:316–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazemi M, Chamani A, Agh N (2018) The ssessment of arsenic contamination in Urmia lake sediments and its effect on human health. J Environ Stud 45:485–497

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar V, Parihar RD, Sharma A, Bakshi P, Singh Sidhu GP, Bali AS, Karaouzas I, Bhardwaj R, Thukral AK, Gyasi-Agyei Y, Rodrigo-Comino J (2019) Global evaluation of heavy metal content in surface water bodies: a meta-analysis using heavy metal pollution indices and multivariate statistical analyses. Chemosphere 236:124364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.124364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li Y, Zhou Q, Ren B, Luo J, Yuan J, Ding X, Bian H (2019) Trends and health risks of dissolved heavy metal pollution in global river and lake water from 1970 to 2017. Rev Environ ContamToxicol 251:1–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Long ER, Macdonald DD, Smith SL, Calder FD (1995) Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ Manag 19:81–97

    Google Scholar 

  • Luo W, Lu Y, Wang T, Hu W, Jiao W, Naile J, Khim JS, Giesy J (2010) Ecological risk assessment of arsenic and metals in sediments of coastal areas of northern Bohai and Yellow Seas, China. Ambio 39:367–375

    Google Scholar 

  • Madani K (2014) Water management in Iran: what is causing the looming crisis? J Environ Stud Sci 4:315–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Madani K, AghaKouchak A, Mirchi A (2016) Iran’s socio-economic drought: challenges of a water-bankrupt nation. Iran Stud 49:997–1016

    Google Scholar 

  • Malvandi H (2017) Preliminary evaluation of heavy metal contamination in the Zarrin-Gol River sediments, Iran. Mar Pollut Bull 117:547–553

    Google Scholar 

  • Memoli V, Esposito F, Panico SC, De Marco A, Barile R, Maisto G (2019) Evaluation of tourism impact on soil metal accumulation through single and integrated indices. Sci Total Environ 682:685–691

    Google Scholar 

  • MirzaeeMahmoodabadi R (2019) Evaluation of water quality and bed load sediment contamination of Qareaqhaj River to heavy metals, Kahfr Watershed, Fars province. J Environ Sci Stud 4(3):1696–1706

    Google Scholar 

  • Mombeni HA, Rezaei S, Nadarajah S, Emami M (2013) Estimation of water demand in Iran based on SARIMA models. Environ Model Assess 18:559–565

    Google Scholar 

  • Muller G (1979) Schwermetalle in den sediments des Rheins-Veran-derngrenseitt 1971. Umschan 79:778–783

    Google Scholar 

  • Nafchi MA, Chamani A (2019) Physiochemical factors and heavy metal pollution, affecting the population abundance of Coenobitascaevola. Mar Pollut Bull 149:110494

    Google Scholar 

  • Nasrabadi T, Bidhendi GN, Karbassi A, Mehrdadi N (2010) Evaluating the efficiency of sediment metal pollution indices in interpreting the pollution of Haraz River sediments, southern Caspian Sea basin. Environ Monit Assess 171:395–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Nazarpour A, Watts MJ, Madhani A, Elahi S (2019) Source spatial distribution and pollution assessment of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Pb, isotopes in urban soils of Ahvaz City, a semi-arid metropolis in southwest Iran. Sci Rep 9:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Noorbakhsh S, Sahraiian H, Soroosh MJ, Rezaii V, Fotoohi A (2011) Inventory of important pests, diseases, and weeds of the major agricultural crops: pesicides and recommended methods of application (in Persian). Ministry of Agriculture, Plant Protection Organization. p 197

  • Nourouzi M, Chamani A, Shirani M, Malekpouri P, Chuah A (2018) Effect of Cd and Pb pollutions on physiological growth: wavelet neural network (WNN) as a new approach on age determination of Coenobita scaevola. Bull Environ ContamToxicol 101:320–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of Planning and Economy (2015) Agricultural statistics of Fars province. Publication of Fars Agricultural Organization, 197 pages

  • Ra K et al (2014) Assessment of pollution and ecological risk of heavy metals in the surface sediments of Ulsan Bay, Korea. Ocean Sci J 49:279–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Saeedi M, Hosseinzadeh M, Rajabzadeh M (2011) Competitive heavy metals adsorption on natural bed sediments of Jajrood River, Iran. Environ Earth Sci 62:519–527

    Google Scholar 

  • Salati S, Moore F (2010) Assessment of heavy metal concentration in the Khoshk River water and sediment, Shiraz, Southwest Iran. Environ Monit Assess 164:677–689

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanayei Y, Ismail N, Talebi S (2009) Determination of heavy metals in Zayandeh Rood river, Isfahan-Iran. World ApplSci J 6:1209–1214

    Google Scholar 

  • Sayadi M, Sayyed M, Kumar S (2010) Short-term accumulative signatures of heavy metals in river bed sediments in the industrial area, Tehran, Iran. Environ Monit Assess 162:465–473

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanbehzadeh S, Vahid Dastjerdi M, Hassanzadeh A, Kiyanizadeh T (2014) Heavy metals in water and sediment: a case study of Tembi River. J Environ Public Health 2014:858720

  • Sheykhi V, Moore F (2013) Evaluation of potentially toxic metals pollution in the sediments of the Kor river, southwest Iran. Environ Monit Assess 185:3219–3232

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson S, Batley G (2016) Sediment quality assessment: a practical guide. Csiro Publishing, Clayton

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson D, Wilson J, Harris C, Jeffrey D (1980) Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländermeeresuntersuchungen 33:566

    Google Scholar 

  • Vahid HD, Noori M, Heydari M, Sheikhi M (2016) An investigation into the qualitative and quantitative effects of climate change on rivers in Iran. Int J Rev Life Sci 6:6–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkley A, Black IA (1934) An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining soil organic matter, and a proposed modification of the chromic acid titration method. Soil Sci 37:29–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Yazdanpak A, Ostovan H, Hesami S, Gheibi M (2020) Determination of residue levels of pesticides (acetamipride, diazinon, imidacloprid, primicarb) in greenhouse tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) var. Izmir in Fars. J Anim Environ 11(4):289–296

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, He P, Qiao G, Huang J, Yuan X, Li Q (2019) Heavy metal contamination assessment of surface sediments of the Subei Shoal, China: spatial distribution, source apportionment and ecological risk. Chemosphere 223:211–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Q, Yang N, Li Y, Ren B, Ding X, Bian H (2020) Total concentrations and sources of heavy metal pollution in global river and lake water bodies from 1972 to 2017. Glob EcolConserv 22:9–25

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Science Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

    Hamidreza Shahradnia & Atefeh Chamani

  2. Department of Hydrobiology, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, Fars Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, Shiraz, Iran

    Mehrdad Zamanpoore

  3. Plant Protection Department, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

    Alireza Jalalizand

Authors
  1. Hamidreza Shahradnia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Atefeh Chamani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mehrdad Zamanpoore
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alireza Jalalizand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atefeh Chamani.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shahradnia, H., Chamani, A., Zamanpoore, M. et al. Heavy metal pollution in surface sediments of Ghareh-Aghaj River, one of the longest perennial rivers in Iran. Environ Earth Sci 80, 91 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09384-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09384-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation