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Fractional distribution and risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments collected from the Yellow River, China

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Abstract

Bohai Sea is one of the most intensively exploited region in the world and its environment has been severely impacted by the extensive human activities. The Yellow River is the most important river which connects with the Bohai Sea. Therefore, this study focused on analyzing heavy metals (HMs) in 21 surface sediment samples collected from the Yellow River, China. Sequential extraction procedure (SEP), proposed by the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR), was applied in the present study to determine the concentration and fractionation characteristics of these HMs. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution, fractionation, risk assessment, and sources of HMs, including copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and nickel (Ni). The results obtained from this research will play a significant role in understanding the migration, transformation, and accumulation of HMs for future research in study area. Results of fractionation revealed that most of the HMs in the study area mainly existed in residual fraction; however, Mn mostly existed in exchangeable fraction. A high percentage of reducible fractions was found for Cu and Pb. The mean contamination factor (Cf) values indicated that Pb was the highest. It was >1 and showed moderate contamination, followed by Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Zn, had <1 and indicated low contamination. Among studied HMs Pb had higher enrichment factor (EF) as compared to others. Significant positive correlations within all studied HMs and principal component analysis (PCA) results indicated their common sources, however, Pb showed the different contamination sources. The total contents of HMs in sediment were compared with the threshold effect level (TEL) and probable effect level (PEL) sediment quality guideline (TEL/PEL-based SQGs) values for trace metals in sediment, as well as literature reported data for comparative purposes, which indicated that the selected river in present study is not severe.

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Abbreviations

HMs:

Heavy metals

SEP:

Sequential extraction procedure

BCR:

Community Bureau of Reference

RAC:

Risk assessment code

Cf :

Contamination factor

EF:

Enrichment factor

I geo :

Geo-accumulation index

PCA:

Principal component analysis

TOC:

Total organic carbon

Cu:

Copper

Zn:

Zinc

Pb:

Lead

Cr:

Chromium

Cd:

Cadmium

Fe:

Iron

Mn:

Manganese

Ni:

Nickel

TEL:

Threshold effect level

PEL:

Probable effect level

SQG:

Sediment quality guideline

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41173032 and 41373110). We acknowledge editors and reviewers for polishing the language of the paper and for in-depth discussion.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    Houqi Liu, Guijian Liu, Jie Wang, Zijiao Yuan & Chunnian Da

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710075, Shaanxi, China

    Houqi Liu & Guijian Liu

  3. Advanced Laboratory for Environmental Research and Technology, Joint Advanced Research Center, USTC-City U, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China

    Houqi Liu & Guijian Liu

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  1. Houqi Liu
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  2. Guijian Liu
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  3. Jie Wang
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  4. Zijiao Yuan
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  5. Chunnian Da
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Correspondence to Guijian Liu.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Liu, H., Liu, G., Wang, J. et al. Fractional distribution and risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments collected from the Yellow River, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 11076–11084 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6291-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6291-3

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