Abstract
The sediment pollution caused by different metals has attracted a great deal of attention because of the toxicity, persistence, and bio-accumulation. This study focuses on heavy metals in the hyporheic sediment of the Weihe River, China. Contamination levels of metals were examined by using “geo-accumulation index, enrichment factor, and contamination factor” while ecological risk of metals were determined by “potential ecological risk and risk index”. The pollutant accumulation of metals ranked as follows: “manganese (Mn)chromium (Cr)zinc (Zn) copper (Cu)nickel (Ni)arsenic (As)lead (Pb)”. The geo-accumulation index identified arsenic as class 1 (uncontaminated to moderate contamination), whereas Cu, Cr, Ni, Zn, Pb, and Mn were classified as class 0 (uncontaminated). According to the enrichment factor, arsenic originated through anthropogenic activities and Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb were mainly controlled by natural sources. The contamination factor elucidated that sediments were moderately polluted by (As, Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Pb), whereas Ni slightly contaminated the sediments of the Weihe River. All metals posed a low ecological risk in the study area. The risk index revealed that contribution of arsenic (53.43 %) was higher than half of the total risk.
Highlights
The hyporheic zone is regarded as the immersed region underneath the riverbed, where the fraternization of ground and surface water typically happens [1]
This study aims to (1) evaluate the heavy metals “Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), and Manganese (Mn)”; (2) assess different levels of pollution, which include “geo-accumulation index, enrichment factor and contamination factor”; (3) assess the
The results showed that the concentrations of Cu, As, Cr, and Ni in the sediments were approximately equal to Zijiang River, Hunan and Yellow River, China
Summary
The hyporheic zone is regarded as the immersed region underneath the riverbed, where the fraternization of ground and surface water typically happens [1]. It is a dynamic region that acts as a transitional zone for water exchange, material cycles, solute transport, and other ecological service functions [2]. The rivers perform multiple functions, including aquaculture, water transportation, irrigation, as well as provide domestic water. According to different policies and scientific objectives, several ecological functions of the river have been evaluated and studied, which include quality of water [3], hydrological processes [4], animal population dynamics [5], quality of sediments [6], Int. J. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 1070; doi:10.3390/ijerph17031070 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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