Distribution and pollution risk assessment of heavy metals in the surface sediment of the intertidal zones of the Yellow River Estuary, China

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 174; p. 113286
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhe, Lin, Kuixuan, Liu, Xiaoshou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2022; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Autumn; Cadmium; China; Chromium; Cobalt; Copper; Distribution; Enrichment factor; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental risk; Estuaries; Estuarine dynamics; Geoaccumulation index; Geologic Sediments; Hakanson potential ecological risk index; Heavy metals; Humans; hydrodynamics; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; Intertidal environment; Intertidal zone; Iron; Lead; littoral zone; Manganese; marine pollution; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Metal concentrations; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Nickel; Organic matter; particle size; Pollutants; Pollution; Pollution risk assessment; risk; Risk Assessment; Rivers; Sediment; Sediments; Summer; Water analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Yellow River; Yellow River Estuary; Zinc; China; Yellow River; Enrichment factor; Pollution risk assessment; Yellow River Estuary; Heavy metals; Hakanson potential ecological risk index; Geoaccumulation index
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113286

Eleven heavy metals (V, Cr, Mn, Co, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) in surface sediment in the intertidal zones of the Yellow River Estuary, China were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in summer and autumn 2019. Results indicated that the 11 heavy metals had the same sources. Sediment particle size and total organic matter were the main factors influencing the distribution of heavy metals. Most sites in the intertidal zones of the study area were not contaminated with V, Cr, Fe, Co, Zn, Pb, Cu, As, Mn and Ni, while Cd was the priority pollutant. Heavy metal pollution risk in autumn was higher than that in summer, which may be due to hydrodynamic effects. The present study showed that the heavy metal concentrations in the study area had a temporal decreasing trend compared to previous studies, which may be due to the reduction in human activities. •Eleven heavy metals were studied in intertidal zones of the Yellow River Estuary.•Heavy metal pollution risk in autumn was higher than that in summer.•Most intertidal zones of the Yellow River Estuary were lightly or not polluted.•Cd was the priority heavy metal in intertidal zones of the Yellow River Estuary.