Heavy metals in lake surface sediments in protected areas in Poland: concentration, pollution, ecological risk, sources and spatial distribution

Abstract

This paper presents the state and spatial distribution of surface sediment contamination of 77 lakes in Poland by Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu. The analyzed lakes were located within a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union (EU). Spatial distribution of the heavy metals (HMs), factors favoring the delivery/accumulation of HMs in surface sediments, and pollution sources were analyzed. The results indicate the contamination of lake sediments by HMs, but the potentially toxic effects of HMs are only found in single lakes. The spatial distribution of Cr indicates predominant impacts of point sources, while for Pb, Ni, and Zn, the impact of non-point sources. The analysis showed the presence of areas with very high values of particular HMs (hot spots) in the western part of Poland, while a group of 5 lakes with very low values of Ni, Pb, and Zn (cold spots) was identified in the central part of Poland. Principal component analysis showed that presence of wetlands is a factor limiting HMs inflow to lakes. Also, lower HMs concentrations were found in lake surface sediments located in catchments with a higher proportion of national parks and nature reserves. Higher HMs concentrations were found in lakes with a high proportion of Special Protection Areas designated under the EU Birds Directive. The positive matrix factorization analysis identified four sources of HMs. High values of HMs concentrations indicate their delivery from industrial, urbanized, and agricultural areas. However, these impacts overlap, which disturbs the characteristic quantitative profiles assigned to these pollution sources.

Ecological risk assessment profile of lake surface sediment using metal(loid)s: a case study, the Boraboy Lake

“…They determined that the lake sediment surfaces were contaminated with metals, and that Pb and Cd metals were higher than the background reference data. They reported that the lake surface sediments were also highly contaminated in terms of Pb and Cu, according to the EF and Igeo indexes [47]. Similar indices were used in a similar study on the surface sediment of Lake Manzala (Egypt) (Igeo, PLI etc.).…”

Ecological and Health Risk Assessments of Heavy Metals Contained in Sediments of Polish Dam Reservoirs

“…Dominant sources of HMs in sediments differ at the continental scale. In North America, the main source is mining and industry; in Africa it is bedrock weathering; and in Europe it is mainly connected with wastewaters [26]. According to results obtained by Sojka et al [26], HM contamination can be classified in the order Cd < Ni < Cr < Cu < Pb < Zn for 77 lakes located in the northern part of Poland.…”

“…The volume of sediment supply and composition of debris particles modulate the spatial distribution of metals in reservoirs [24]. Metals accumulated in reservoirs can be later released from the bottom sediments to the water column [25][26][27]. Heavy metals in excessive concentrations can have a toxic effect on aquatic organisms [28,29].…”

Geochemical characteristics of Late Glacial and Holocene biogenic sediments in central Poland and implications for reconstructing the palaeoenvironment

“…In cases of statistical description, the most commonly used measures are averages, dispersion and asymmetry (Bojakowska, Lech 2008;Borówka et al 2022). On the other hand, statistical inferencing to detect interdependencies between individual elements of the chemical composition of sediments and environmental factors is most effective for stations with long measurement series (e.g., Boryczka, Wicik 1983;Walanus 2000;Zander et al 2021;Płóciennik et al 2022), or for larger areas covered by detailed monitoring (Marszelewski 2005;Sojka et al 2022).…”