Contamination Evaluation of Heavy Metals in a Sediment Core from the Al-Salam Lagoon, Jeddah Coast, Saudi Arabia

Ammar A Mannaa,Aaid G Al-Zubieri,Rabea Haredy,Athar Ali Khan

doi:10.3390/jmse9080899

Ammar A Mannaa, Aaid G Al-Zubieri + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080899

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Abstract

The Al-Salam Lagoon is one of the recreational sites along the Jeddah coast, showing the environmental impacts of urbanization along the coast. A sediment core (220 cm) was collected from the intertidal zone to evaluate the heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb) and geochemical indices (contamination factor, geo-accumulation index, and pollution load index). In the organ-ic-rich muddy sediments (0–100 cm), there is a high metals content and a pollution load index of ~3, indicting anthropogenic impacts with high Cu contamination (CF:12) and moderate Fe, Mn, Cr, Ni, Zn, and Pb contamination (CF: <3). The organic matter and heavy metals washed through surface run-off from the land and deposited as urban waste. Down the core, consistent metals concentration, CF, and Igeo trends indicate a common pollutant source and pollution load variations over time. In the sediment section (70–40 cm), a high organic matter, metal concentration, CF, Igeo, and PLI value (≥5) suggest an uncontrolled pollution load. The decreased and stable trends of environmental indicators toward surface sediments suggest measures taken to control the pollution along the Jeddah coast. Below 110 cm, the carbonate-rich sediments have low organic matter and metals, showing an unpolluted depositional environment. The negative geo-accumulation index implies a geogenic source and indicates no anthropogenic impacts as inferred from low (~1.0) CF and PLI.

Highlights

The coastal areas are the repository of the waste material generated by multiple human activities
The sewage discharge resulted in high nutrients, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), fecal bacteria, high phosphate, high ammonia, and nitrate [22]
The results showed that mud, Loss on ignition (LOI), and metals are positively correlated (p < 0.05), being very significant (p < 0.01), which suggests that organic-rich muddy sediments are the major control for metals distribution in the study area

Summary

Introduction

The coastal areas are the repository of the waste material generated by multiple human activities. The effluents, discharged from the land, deposit heavy metals in coastal sediments [1]. In the aquatic environment, adsorbed heavy metals flocculate, co-precipitate, and deposit onto the sediments [2,3]. Heavy metals pose a threat to the ecosystem [4]. The sediments’ geochemistry provides information about environmental pollution [3,5,6,7,8]. The surface sediment record explains contamination levels in the present, whereas sediment cores provide a historical record of variations in natural and anthropogenic input [9,10,11,12]

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