title: Assessment of heavy metal contamination in surface sediments of the west Guangdong coastal region, China.
abstract: Heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn), organic carbon and grain size of 237 surface sediment samples and one sediment core, taken from the west Guangdong coastal region in January 2008, were analyzed to evaluate the spatial distribution and pollution status. Results show that the ranges of the measured heavy metal concentrations in sediments are as follows: 8.33-39.49mg/kg for As, 0.1-1.49mg/kg for Cd, 33-108mg/kg for Cr, 11.5-78.8mg/kg for Cu, 0.04-0.26mg/kg for Hg, 21-73mg/kg for Pb, 56-248mg/kg for Zn. The heavy metal enrichment is closely associated with Corg and grain size. Both the metal enrichment factor and geoaccumulation index indicate that there was no detected pollution on metals As, Cr, Cu, Pb in our study area and a slight to moderate contamination of Cd, Hg and Zn. However, As, Cr and Cu have showed a certain risk.
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetlands Biogeosciences, China Geologic Survey, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, PR China; College of Marine Geo-science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, PR China.
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Water Resources and Environmental Sciences, China University of Geosciences，100083, Beijing，China.
authors.forename: Qingyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetlands Biogeosciences, China Geologic Survey, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Geology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266061, PR China. Electronic address: siyuanye@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Siyuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetlands Biogeosciences, China Geologic Survey, Qingdao 266071, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongming
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetlands Biogeosciences, China Geologic Survey, Qingdao 266071, PR China.
authors.forename: Xigui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: The Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetlands Biogeosciences, China Geologic Survey, Qingdao 266071, PR China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Contamination assessment; Heavy metals; Surface sediments; West Guangdong region