Pollution,sources, and risks of heavy metals in coastal waters of China |
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Authors: | Jun Wu Cui Zhang Yuxuan Zhang Yichen Lin Juan Xu |
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Institution: | 1. School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong, People's Republic of China;2. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS);3. Shandong Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, YICCAS, Yantai, Shandong, People's Republic of China;4. State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China |
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Abstract: | Abstract Comprehensive information on heavy metals in coastal waters at national scale of China is limited. Therefore, this study investigated the distribution, pollution, and ecological-health risks of heavy metals in coastal waters along 18,000?km coastline of China. Total 13 target heavy metals in coastal waters along coastline of China showed drastic spatial variations with average concentrations ranging from .14 (Cd) to 136.26 (Cu) μg/L. Cu was the dominant heavy metal with the maximal concentration of 1485.92?μg/L. Three methods including heavy metal pollution index (HPI), Nemerow index (NI), and contamination degree (CD) were adopted to explore heavy metal pollution. HPI obtained the worst-case evaluation results to illustrate that heavy pollution occurred at over 50% of sampling sites. Anthropogenic sources were the main sources of heavy metals in the coastal waters. Approximately 28.13% and 9.38% of sampling sites illustrated considerable and very high ecological risks, respectively. Metals including Cu, As, and Hg were the main pollution and risk contributors. Heavy metals in coastal waters posed high cancer risks and unacceptable non-cancer risks to both adults and children. Therefore, effective control of heavy metals is necessary for regional sustainability and well-beings of residents in coastal regions of China. |
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Keywords: | heavy metal coastal regions ecological risks health risks source apportionment |
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