Distribution and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments along southeast coast of the Caspian Sea

Kazem Darvish Bastami; Hossein Bagheri; Vahid Kheirabadi; Ghasem Ghorbanzadeh Zaferani; Mohammad Bagher Teymori; Ali Hamzehpoor; Farzaneh Soltani; Sarah Haghparast; Sayyed Reza Moussavi Harami; Nasrin Farzaneh Ghorghani; Sahar Ganji

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.029

Distribution and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments along southeast coast of the Caspian Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Apr 15;81(1):262-7. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.029. Epub 2014 Mar 4.

Affiliations

¹ Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (INIOAS), Tehran 1411813389, Iran.
² Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (INIOAS), Tehran 1411813389, Iran; Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad International Campus, Iran. Electronic address: bagheri1@yahoo.com.
³ Golestan Department of Environment, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Iranian Department of Environment, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Young Researchers and Elites Club, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Faculty of Fishery Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 45165-386, Gorgan, Iran.
⁷ Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad International Campus, Iran.
⁸ Faculty of Science and Technology, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
⁹ Department of marine biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

PMID: 24606766
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.01.029

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate heavy metal concentrations of Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn), their spatial distribution, enrichment factor index (EF), the pollution load index (PLI) and potential ecological risk (PER) in two different seasons of the year (winter and summer) in surface sediments along southeast coast of the Caspian Sea. The results indicated that there were significant differences between concentrations of As, Ni and Pb in two different seasons. Considering PER, sediments from southeast Caspian coast had low ecological risk. According to PLI, sediment from the southeast coast had no pollution. Risk assessment showed that As threshold concentrations to occasionally be exceeded in the study area.

Keywords: Caspian Sea; Heavy metals; Potential ecological risk; Season; Sediment.

MeSH terms

Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
Metals, Heavy / chemistry*
Oceans and Seas*
Seasons
Water Pollutants, Chemical / chemistry*

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Water Pollutants, Chemical