Total petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the surface sediments of Bohai Bay, China: long-term variations in pollution status and adverse biological risk.
Surface sediments collected from 2001 to 2011 were analyzed for total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and five heavy metals. The sediment concentration ranges of TPH, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and Hg were 6.3-535 μg/g, 58-332 μg/g, 7.2-63 μg/g, 4.3-138 μg/g, 0-0.98μg/g, and 0.10-0.68 μg/g, respectively. These results met the highest marine sediment quality standards in China, indicating that the sediment was fairly clean. However, based on the effects range-median (ERM) quotient method, the calculated values for all of the sampling sites were higher than 0.10, suggesting that there was a potential adverse biological risk in Bohai Bay. According to the calculated results, the biological risk decreased from 2001 to 2007 and increased afterwards. High-risk sites were mainly distributed along the coast. This study suggests that anthropogenic influences might be responsible for the potential risk of adverse biological effects from TPH and heavy metals in Bohai Bay.
College of Resource and Environment, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China; Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin 300456, China.
Ran
R
Zhou
Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin 300456, China; College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Xuebo
X
Qin
Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin 300456, China.
Shitao
S
Peng
College of Resource and Environment, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China. Electronic address: shdeng8888@163.com.
Shihuai
S
Deng
D061006:Bays; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D006838:Hydrocarbons; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Adverse biological risk; Bohai Bay; Heavy metal; Pollution status; Total petroleum hydrocarbons