Development of a hybrid pollution index for heavy metals in marine and estuarine sediments

• Published in: Environmental monitoring and assessment Vol. 187; no. 5; p. 306
• Main Authors: Brady, James P., Ayoko, Godwin A., Martens, Wayde N., Goonetilleke, Ashantha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.05.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adsorption; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Contaminated sediments; Contamination; Digestion; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Management; Environmental monitoring; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Environmental Monitoring - standards; Estuaries; estuarine sediments; Food chains; Geologic Sediments - chemistry; Heavy metals; Marine pollution; Metals; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Metals, Heavy - standards; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Physical properties; Pollution; Pollution index; Seawater - chemistry; sediment contamination; Sediment pollution; Sedimentation & deposition; Sediments; Toxicity; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - standards; Sediment contamination; Bioavailability assessment; Pollution index; Nemerow Pollution Index; Heavy metals; Modified pollution index
• ISSN: 0167-6369; 1573-2959; 1573-2959
• DOI: 10.1007/s10661-015-4563-x

Heavy metal pollution of sediments is a growing concern in most parts of the world, and numerous studies focussed on identifying contaminated sediments by using a range of digestion methods and pollution indices to estimate sediment contamination have been described in the literature. The current work provides a critical review of the more commonly used sediment digestion methods and identifies that weak acid digestion is more likely to provide guidance on elements that are likely to be bioavailable than other traditional methods of digestion. This work also reviews common pollution indices and identifies the Nemerow Pollution Index as the most appropriate method for establishing overall sediment quality. Consequently, a modified Pollution Index that can lead to a more reliable understanding of whole sediment quality is proposed. This modified pollution index is then tested against a number of existing studies and demonstrated to give a reliable and rapid estimate of sediment contamination and quality.