You do not have JavaScript enabled. Please enable JavaScript to access the full features of the site or access our non-JavaScript page.

Issue 53, 2019

Accumulation risk and sources of heavy metals in supratidal wetlands along the west coast of the Bohai Sea

Abstract

The heavy metals Al, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Fe, Mn, As, and Cd in the rainfall-driven supratidal wetlands along the west coast of the Bohai Sea (the areas are named site 1, site 2, site 3, and site 4 from south to north in the gradient in this study) are tested for their accumulation risks and sources. Results show that the distribution and enrichment of the heavy metals in the supratidal wetlands are lower in site 1 than in sites 2–4. The risk indices (RIs) of all sites are less than 150, indicating low–moderate risk. However, the RI values are primarily dominated by the risk indices (Eri) of As and Cd. The accumulative contribution values of Eri-As and Eri-Cd in sites 1, 2, 3, and 4 are 79.05%, 77.80%, 80.54%, and 76.43%, respectively. Additionally, the contamination degree (Cd) and the Nemero comprehensive pollution index (PN) of the supratidal wetland in site 1 are 6.86 and 0.74 respectively, indicating a low-risk state. By contrast, the Cd and PN values of the other three supratidal wetlands are higher than those of site 1, suggesting an increasing accumulation risk for heavy metals in sites 2, 3 and 4. Our analysis indicates that the heavy metals Al, Cr, Mn, and Fe in all the supratidal wetlands mainly originate from the weathering of rocks and their parent materials. Pb is significantly correlated with anthropogenic activities, while Cu, As, and Cd are likely induced by anthropogenic activities and atmospheric deposition. The sources of Ni and Zn should be determined on the basis of the situation of the wetland and its surrounding areas. For example, Ni is mainly affected by anthropogenic activities in site 2, whereas the origins of Ni are soil parent materials or atmospheric depositions in sites 1, 3, and 4. Our results can provide data to support the utilization strategy and sustainable development plans for marine space resources on the coast of the Bohai Sea.

Graphical abstract: Accumulation risk and sources of heavy metals in supratidal wetlands along the west coast of the Bohai Sea

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
12 Jul 2019
Accepted
19 Sep 2019
First published
27 Sep 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 30615-30627

Accumulation risk and sources of heavy metals in supratidal wetlands along the west coast of the Bohai Sea

F. Liu, B. Zheng, Y. Zheng, X. Mo and D. Li, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 30615 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA05332H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements