Environmental Hydraulics Institute, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. Isabel Torres, 15, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Nov 15;124(1):421-434. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.07.070. Epub 2017 Aug 12.
A methodology to assess the historical evolution and recovery of heavy metal pollution in estuarine sediments was developed and is presented here. This approach quantifies the distribution of heavy metals in sediment cores, and investigates the influence of anthropogenic activities and/or core locations on the heavy metal pollution, by proposing and using sediment quality indices and polynomial regressions. The method has been applied to the Suances Estuary confirming its suitability as a comprehensive and practical management tool. In this estuary, the evolution of heavy metal pollution (since 1997-1998 to 2015) pointed out the deeper the sediments, the more polluted, indicating a recovery at the upper layers due to the closure and ending of washing discharges from mining, and the reduction of metal loads from industrial wastewaters. In terms of global pollution, the intertidal and subtidal sediments will require 43.1±2.8 and 8.6±0.6years to be unpolluted, respectively.
本文提出了一种评估河口沉积物重金属污染历史演变和恢复的方法。该方法通过提出和使用沉积物质量指数和多项式回归，量化了沉积物芯中重金属的分布，并研究了人为活动和/或沉积物芯位置对重金属污染的影响。该方法已应用于苏安斯河口，证实了其作为一种综合实用的管理工具的适用性。在该河口，重金属污染的演变（自 1997-1998 年至 2015 年）表明，沉积物越深，污染越严重，这表明由于采矿冲洗排放的关闭和结束，以及工业废水中金属负荷的减少，在上层沉积物中出现了恢复。就全球污染而言，潮间带和潮下带沉积物分别需要 43.1±2.8 和 8.6±0.6 年才能恢复到无污染状态。
