Abstract
Hongze Lake is the first natural sink for transferring drinking water along the east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project in China. Thus, the assessment of health risk associated with sediment and soil in Hongze Lake is of vital importance in terms of protecting public health. This study surveyed the distribution of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in different types of bank soils and sediments at the estuary area of Hongze Lake. The total concentrations of PAHs range between 562.4 and 1585.8 ng/g, and 3- and 4-ring PAHs are the majority in all samples, accounting for 78.2% to 92.3% of the total PAHs. Source analysis was conducted, and the results showed that PAHs in the estuary area mainly come from the burning of fossil fuels, leakage of oil products, low temperature combustion, biomass fuel, and transportation. The risk assessment of the study area showed that the K values of all the points were between 0.1~3, indicating that there was a low ecological risk. This study indicates that further policies for controlling pollution sources of PAHs are needed for reducing health risks associated with fresh water in Hongze Lake.
Highlights
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic pollutants that consist of two or more benzene rings in a straight chain, angular or strung form
Because PAHs are structurally stable, difficult to degrade, and some PAH have the characteristics of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as carcinogenic, bioaccumulative, and long-range migration effects, the US Environmental Protection
In watersheds involved in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, there are already studies on PAH pollution in various rivers and three other lakes, and there is a lack of research on Hongze Lake [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15]
Summary
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of organic pollutants that consist of two or more benzene rings in a straight chain, angular or strung form. After the station gradually lifted water into Dongping Lake, it provided production and domestic water to the eastern part of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain and the Jiaodong area and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region This route involves the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Haihe River Basin, and four major lakes. Serving as the fourth largest freshwater lake in China, it is located at the intersection point between the east route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and the Huai River. In watersheds involved in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, there are already studies on PAH pollution in various rivers and three other lakes, and there is a lack of research on Hongze Lake [8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15].
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