Heavy metal fractionation and ecological risk implications in the intertidal surface sediments of Zhelin Bay, South China. 2018

Yang-Guang Gu
South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, China; Key laboratory of Fishery Ecology and Environment, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou 510300, China; Key Laboratory of Open-Sea Fishery Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China. Electronic address: hydrobio@163.com.

Intertidal surface sediments collected from Zhelin Bay, the largest mariculture base of eastern Guangdong Province of China, were analyzed for total metal concentrations and chemical speciation. Average total metal concentrations (mg/kg) were 0.063 (Cd), 35.69 (Pb), 23.07 (Cr), 7.50 (Ni), 7.95 (Cu), 74.95 (Zn), and 751.32 (Mn). Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, and Mn were significantly higher than the corresponding background values of Zhelin Bay. All studied metals were dominated by residual fractions, whereas the second relatively higher average portions of Cd (24.10%) and Mn (15.17%) were strongly associated with the acid-soluble fraction. Overall, the intertidal surface sediments of Zhelin Bay were only slightly polluted based on the pollution load index (PLI), with a 21% probability of toxicity based on the mean effects range-median quotient. The metals Cd and Mn posed medium to high risk levels based on the method of risk assessment code (RAC).

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D002681 China A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean. Inner Mongolia,Manchuria,People's Republic of China,Sinkiang,Mainland China
D004784 Environmental Monitoring The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment. Monitoring, Environmental,Environmental Surveillance,Surveillance, Environmental
D005591 Chemical Fractionation Separation of a mixture in successive stages, each stage removing from the mixture some proportion of one of the substances, for example by differential solubility in water-solvent mixtures. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) Fractionation, Chemical,Chemical Fractionations,Fractionations, Chemical
D014874 Water Pollutants, Chemical Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water. Chemical Water Pollutants,Landfill Leachate,Leachate, Landfill,Pollutants, Chemical Water
D061006 Bays An area of water mostly surrounded by land, usually smaller than a gulf, and affording access to the sea. Inlets,Bay,Inlet
D018570 Risk Assessment The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988) Assessment, Risk,Benefit-Risk Assessment,Risk Analysis,Risk-Benefit Assessment,Health Risk Assessment,Risks and Benefits,Analysis, Risk,Assessment, Benefit-Risk,Assessment, Health Risk,Assessment, Risk-Benefit,Benefit Risk Assessment,Benefit-Risk Assessments,Benefits and Risks,Health Risk Assessments,Risk Analyses,Risk Assessment, Health,Risk Assessments,Risk Benefit Assessment,Risk-Benefit Assessments
D019015 Geologic Sediments A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689) Marine Oil Snow,Sediments, Geologic,Sediments, Marine,Geologic Sediment,Marine Snow,Sediment, Geologic,Marine Oil Snows,Marine Sediment,Marine Sediments,Oil Snow, Marine,Sediment, Marine,Snow, Marine Oil
D019216 Metals, Heavy Metals with high specific gravity, typically larger than 5. They have complex spectra, form colored salts and double salts, have a low electrode potential, are mainly amphoteric, yield weak bases and weak acids, and are oxidizing or reducing agents (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed) Heavy Metal,Heavy Metals,Metal, Heavy

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