title: Pollution, toxicity, and ecological risk of heavy metals in surface river sediments of a large basin undergoing rapid economic development.
abstract: A comprehensive and detailed investigation of heavy metal pollution, toxicity, and ecological risk assessment was conducted for the surface river sediments of the Haihe Basin in China based on 220 sampling sites selected in 2013. The average concentrations of Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the sediments were 129 mg/kg, 63.4 mg/kg, 36.6 mg/kg, 50.0 mg/kg, and 202 mg/kg, respectively. As indicated by the geoaccumulation and pollution load indices, most surface river sediments of the Haihe Basin were contaminated with the investigated metals, especially in the junction region of the Zi Ya He and Hei Long Gang watersheds. The 5 heavy metals in the sediments all had anthropogenic sources, and the enrichment degrees followed the order Cu > Pb > Zn > Cr > Ni, with mean enrichment factors of 3.27, 2.77, 2.58, 1.81, and 1.44, respectively. According to the mean index of comprehensive potential ecological risk (38.9), the studied sediments of the Haihe Basin showed low potential ecological risk, but the sediments were potentially biologically toxic based on the mean probable effect concentration quotient (0.547), which may be the result of speciation of the 5 metals in the sediments. The results indicate that heavy metal pollution should be considered during the development of ecological restoration strategies in the Haihe Basin. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:1149-1155. © 2016 SETAC.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Baoqing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.|University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhixin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D057217:Economic Development; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D018570:Risk Assessment; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Ecological risk; Haihe Basin; Heavy metals; Pollution