Quality Indicators and Possible Ecological Risks of Heavy Metals in the Sediments of three Semi-closed East Mediterranean Gulfs

Abstract

Pollution with copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr), and nickel (Ni) heavy metals of the surface sediments collected from three semi-closed East Mediterranean Gulfs, namely Kavala, Strymonikos, and Ierissos Gulfs, North Aegean Sea, Greece, was investigated to evaluate potential benthic ecological risks. The mean concentrations of the studied metals decrease according to the order: Zn > Pb > Cr > Ni > Cu (176.50, 166.23, 127.41, 43.12, and 33.64 mg kg−1 dry weight). Quality indicators and possible ecological risks for metals in surface sediments were evaluated at 60 sampling sites of these three gulfs using the contamination factor (CF), the contamination degree (CD), the pollution load index (PLI), the geoaccumulation index (Igeo), the potential risk factor (PRFi), and the potential ecological risk index (PERI). Based on Igeo, the Ierissos Gulf sampling sites IER 2, 3, 7, and 9 exhibit moderate Pb pollution, whereas the sampling sites IER 6 and 8 show moderate to strong and strong Pb pollution, respectively. Based on the PRFi and PERI, the studied heavy metals did not pose any significant environmental risks for most of the investigated sites except IER 6 and 8 sampling sites, which may pose considerable environmental risk for Pb. To evaluate potential sources for each metal, multivariate techniques including hierarchical cluster analysis and ANOVA were used.

Analysis of Spatial Variability of River Bottom Sediment Pollution with Heavy Metals and Assessment of Potential Ecological Hazard for the Warta River, Poland

“…According to MPI analysis, in 2017 (MPI > 15) the highest contamination was noted at stations 1, 4, 18, 19, and 20. In 2016, the MPI values were higher than 15 at 11 of the 24 stations: 1, 4, 10,12,14,15,17,19,20,21,22, and 23 (Figure 8).…”

“…Water pollution with heavy metals is a common problem, so their concentrations, distribution and sources have been of global interest [15][16][17][18]. The presence of heavy metal pollutants in the water environment has been of great concern because of their established negative effect on the health of humans and state of ecosystems [19][20][21]. Moreover, Wu et al [22] have suggested that future climate changes will increase the harmful effect of heavy metals in water environment because of their release from bottom sediments to water.…”

First-Time Source Apportionment Analysis of Deposited Particulate Matter from a Moss Biomonitoring Study in Northern Greece

“…For instance, high concentrations of As, Zn, and Mn (320-4100 μgg -1 , 940-4100 μgg -1 , and 3840-26,000 μgg -1 , respectively) have been measured in sediment samples collected close to the coastal mining facilities (Ierissos Gulf) [70]. Furthermore, high concentrations of Cr and Ni have been also measured in surface sediment samples in the area near the load-out facility of the mining operations in Stratoni Bay, and they were considered as the result of the weathering action of the rivers that flow into the Gulf [71,72].…”

“…For instance, high concentrations of As, Zn, and Mn (320-4100 µgg −1 , 940-4100 µgg −1 , and 3840-26,000 µgg −1 , respectively) have been measured in sediment samples collected close to the coastal mining facilities (Ierissos Gulf) [70]. Furthermore, high concentrations of Cr and Ni have been also measured in surface sediment samples in the area near the load-out facility of the mining operations in Stratoni Bay, and they were considered as the result of the weathering action of the rivers that flow into the Gulf [71,72]. Additional studies that have included water samples from Ierissos Gulf and soil samples from the Stratoni area have shown exceedances of the World Health Organization (WHO) limit values and of the global soil mean values, respectively, mainly for the elements As, Sb, Cr, Ni, Cd, Pb, Mn, and Fe [43,45,[73][74][75].…”

Ecological risk by potentially toxic elements in surface sediments of the Lake Maracaibo (Venezuela)

“…Solubilization, speciation, precipitation, as well as diffusion and advection, are also critical processes that determine the spatial distribution of PTE in water bodies [1]. For these reasons, sediments have been widely used as indicators of the environmental quality of aquatic ecosystems [4][5][6][7][8][9]. They provide essential information about the historical record and functionality of these environments.…”