Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China
Rapid industrialization is typically the primary cause for heavy metals [HMs: copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb)] contamination in urbanized river basins. In this study, sediment cores were collected from the Xizhi River (XZR) of the Pearl River Delta, So...
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590182625000025 |
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| author | Chao Yan Qirui Wu Rui Li Zuobing Liang Zaizhi Yang Aiping Zhu Lei Gao |
| author_facet | Chao Yan Qirui Wu Rui Li Zuobing Liang Zaizhi Yang Aiping Zhu Lei Gao |
| author_sort | Chao Yan |
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| description | Rapid industrialization is typically the primary cause for heavy metals [HMs: copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb)] contamination in urbanized river basins. In this study, sediment cores were collected from the Xizhi River (XZR) of the Pearl River Delta, South China, and its tributary, the Danshui River (DSR), to analyze the total concentrations and geochemical fractions of these HMs and to assess their potential hazards to the river ecosystem. By integrating a traditional geochemical model and multivariate statistical analysis into a positive matrix factorization (PMF) method, we quantitatively identified the possible sources of HM contamination in the sediments. The total concentrations of sediment HMs distinctly exceeded local background values and were higher in the DSR compared to the XZR. The enrichment levels of HMs were influenced not only by sediment properties, such as texture, but also, more critically, by the distribution of contamination sources. Sediment Cu, Zn, Cd, and Ni were dominated by acid-soluble fractions (31.4–56.2 %), exhibiting a great mobility potential; while reducible and oxidizable fractions were the predominant geochemical forms for Pb (45.0 ± 12.8 %) and Cr (37.3 ± 7.09 %). Based on the geo-accumulation index and enrichment factor of individual metals, contamination levels decreased in the order of Cd > Cu, Zn, and Ni > Cr and Pb. Sediment Cd was identified as the major contributor to the potential ecological risks posed to aquatic species. Across the entire watershed, the main sources of HM contamination were identified as industrial effluents (54 %), agrochemicals (16 %), domestic sewage (14 %), and weathering of parent rocks (16 %). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-342d5ecca45e4efe8d85b38891c2eaeb |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
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| series | Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology |
| spelling | doaj-art-342d5ecca45e4efe8d85b38891c2eaeb2025-01-19T06:26:37ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology2590-18262025-01-017263274Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South ChinaChao Yan0Qirui Wu1Rui Li2Zuobing Liang3Zaizhi Yang4Aiping Zhu5Lei Gao6School of Resources and Planning, Guangzhou Xinhua University, Guangzhou 510520, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaSchool of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaSchool of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241008, China; Corresponding authors.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China; Corresponding authors.Rapid industrialization is typically the primary cause for heavy metals [HMs: copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb)] contamination in urbanized river basins. In this study, sediment cores were collected from the Xizhi River (XZR) of the Pearl River Delta, South China, and its tributary, the Danshui River (DSR), to analyze the total concentrations and geochemical fractions of these HMs and to assess their potential hazards to the river ecosystem. By integrating a traditional geochemical model and multivariate statistical analysis into a positive matrix factorization (PMF) method, we quantitatively identified the possible sources of HM contamination in the sediments. The total concentrations of sediment HMs distinctly exceeded local background values and were higher in the DSR compared to the XZR. The enrichment levels of HMs were influenced not only by sediment properties, such as texture, but also, more critically, by the distribution of contamination sources. Sediment Cu, Zn, Cd, and Ni were dominated by acid-soluble fractions (31.4–56.2 %), exhibiting a great mobility potential; while reducible and oxidizable fractions were the predominant geochemical forms for Pb (45.0 ± 12.8 %) and Cr (37.3 ± 7.09 %). Based on the geo-accumulation index and enrichment factor of individual metals, contamination levels decreased in the order of Cd > Cu, Zn, and Ni > Cr and Pb. Sediment Cd was identified as the major contributor to the potential ecological risks posed to aquatic species. Across the entire watershed, the main sources of HM contamination were identified as industrial effluents (54 %), agrochemicals (16 %), domestic sewage (14 %), and weathering of parent rocks (16 %).http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590182625000025Pearl River delta (PRD)Geochemical fractionsEcological risk assessmentPositive matrix factorizationAnthropogenic contribution |
| spellingShingle | Chao Yan Qirui Wu Rui Li Zuobing Liang Zaizhi Yang Aiping Zhu Lei Gao Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology Pearl River delta (PRD) Geochemical fractions Ecological risk assessment Positive matrix factorization Anthropogenic contribution |
| title | Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China |
| title_full | Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China |
| title_fullStr | Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China |
| title_short | Enrichment features, ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals: An example of the urbanized Xizhi River catchment, South China |
| title_sort | enrichment features ecological risks assessment and quantitative sources appointment of sediment heavy metals an example of the urbanized xizhi river catchment south china |
| topic | Pearl River delta (PRD) Geochemical fractions Ecological risk assessment Positive matrix factorization Anthropogenic contribution |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590182625000025 |
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