Abstract
ABSTRACT Environmental degradation in estuaries may lead to a serious threat to marine life and may trigger human health risk with the help of the food web. This study was conducted to evaluate the concentration, distribution, sources, pollution status, and potential risk of contamination of five trace metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Fe) in estuarine surface sediment of ten different estuaries with their physicochemical parameters in the Kelantan State of Malaysia. The heavy metal concentrations in the estuarine surface sediment differ from one estuary to another following the order of: Fe (39.08%) > Zn (37.02 μg/g) > Pb (20.78 μg/g) > Cu (6.68 μg/g) > Cd (3.69 μg/g). The cluster analysis and source identification study indicated that almost all the estuaries are more or less polluted by anthropogenic activities. The Geo-accumulation index (Igeo) showed that all estuaries of the Kelantan Coastline were moderately polluted by Fe and strongly polluted by Cd which was also confirmed by enrichment factor (EF) and integrated potential ecological risk value (RI) assessment. The higher Pollution load index (PLI) values (PLI>1) revealed that all estuaries were polluted by studied trace metal contamination at a different level of magnitude.
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