Distribution and Potential Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals in Water, Sediments, and Aquatic Macrophytes: A Case Study of the Junction of Four Rivers in Linyi City, China

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 16; p. 2861
• Main Authors: Li, Xiuling, Shen, Henglun, Zhao, Yongjun, Cao, Weixing, Hu, Changwei, Sun, Chen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10.08.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Accumulation; Anthropogenic factors; Aquatic ecosystems; Aquatic plants; Atmospheric pollution deposition; Bioaccumulation; Biological magnification; China; Cities; Contamination; Creeks & streams; Dams; Distribution patterns; Effluent disposal; Environmental assessment; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental studies; Evaluation; Fertilization; Floating plants; Flowers & plants; Fluvial sediments; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Global positioning systems; GPS; Heavy metals; Industrial effluents; Industrial pollution; Industrial wastewater; Macrophytes; Metal concentrations; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Metals, Heavy - metabolism; Nonpoint source pollution; Point source pollution; Pollution; Pollution sources; Polyethylene; Rain; Rain water; Risk Assessment; Rivers; Sediments; Sewage effluents; Sewage treatment; Sewage treatment plants; Sewerage; Spillage; Stream pollution; Surface runoff; Tracheophyta - chemistry; Tracheophyta - metabolism; Tributaries; Wastewater treatment; Water inflow; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollutants, Chemical - metabolism; Water pollution; Water quality; China; Cities; bioindicator; risk assessment; heavy metal; bioaccumulation; river; sediment
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16162861

The Yi River, the second longest river in Shandong Province, China, flows through Linyi City and is fed by three tributary rivers, Beng River, Liuqing River, and Su River in the northeastern part of the city. In this study, we determined the concentrations of five heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) in water, sediment, and aquatic macrophyte samples collected from the junction of the four rivers and evaluated the potential ecological risk of heavy metal pollution. Most of the heavy metals in water were in low concentrations with the water quality index (WQI) below 1, suggesting low metal pollution. The sediments showed low heavy metal concentrations, suggesting a low ecological risk based on the potential ecological risk index (RI) and the geo-accumulation index ( ). The aquatic plant species accumulated considerable amounts of heavy metals, which were closely related to the metal concentrations of the sediment. The plant species also showed an excellent metal accumulation capability. Based on our results, the junction of the four rivers is only slightly polluted in terms of heavy metals, and the plant species is a suitable bioindicator for sediment heavy metal pollution.