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Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in sediment in the upper reach of the Yangtze River

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Abstract

Heavy metal pollution in China’s Yangtze River basin has been of high concern. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Hg, Cu, Zn, Pb, and As) in the sediment were investigated in the upper reaches of the river, China. Sediment quality guidelines (SQGs), an enrichment factor (EF), an index of geo-accumulation (I geo), and potential ecological risk were used to evaluate the extent of contamination from the heavy metal concentrations in the sediment. Among the seven metals, a noticeable degree of pollution was seen only in the case of Cd and Cd posed a considerable ecological risk at some sample sites. The Pearson correlation analysis was implemented to determine the relationships among the heavy metals, and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to determine the most common pollution sources. The elements As, Cd, Pb, and Zn were grouped together, and the anthropogenic sources of these heavy metals were closely related. The sites with higher Cd concentrations were mainly confined to the river’s reach near industrial areas. Controlling the pollution sources will effectively reduce the pollutant concentrations in the sediment.

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Acknowledgments

The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51439001 and No. 51279220) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Yu-Jun Yi

  2. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Yu-Jun Yi, Jie Sun & Cai-Hong Tang

  3. Renewable Energy School, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Shang-Hong Zhang

Authors
  1. Yu-Jun Yi
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  2. Jie Sun
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  3. Cai-Hong Tang
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  4. Shang-Hong Zhang
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Correspondence to Yu-Jun Yi.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Yi, YJ., Sun, J., Tang, CH. et al. Ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in sediment in the upper reach of the Yangtze River. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 11002–11013 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-6296-y

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