Department of Marine Chemistry, College of Marine Science and Technology, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China.
Key Laboratory of Marine Chemistry Theory and Technology, Ocean University of China, Ministry of Education, Qingdao 266100, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 27;19(13):7896. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19137896.
Heavy metal contamination in coastal waters may pose a serious threat to aquatic products and human health. This study aimed to gain a better understanding of the pollution-induced by heavy metals in Haikou Bay and adjacent seas and assessed the potential ecological risk. The spatial distributions of heavy metals including Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg, and As were analyzed in the surface and bottom water, surface sediment, and five species of fish collected from Haikou Bay and adjacent seas. For seawater, the results showed that the horizontal distribution of the seven heavy metal elements in the study area had no uniform pattern due to the influence of complex factors, such as land-based runoff, port shipping, and ocean current movement. In contrast, the vertical distribution of these heavy metal elements, except for Zn and Cd, showed high concentrations in the surface water and low concentrations in the bottom water. Due to the symbiotic relationship between Zn and Cd, the distributions of these two elements were similar in the study areas. Different from the complex distribution of heavy metals in water, the highest concentrations of these elements in surface sediment all occurred at station 11 except for Pb. Our study revealed that organic carbon and sulfide are important factors affecting the heavy metal concentrations in the surface sediments. Heavy metals in waters and surface sediment were lower than the quality standard of class I according to the China National Standard for Seawater Quality and the sediment quality, except for Zn in water, suggesting that the seawater and surface sediment in Haikou Bay and adjacent seas has not been polluted by heavy metals. Additionally, the heavy metal As was the main element affecting the quality of fish in this study area, and attention should be paid in the future. The target hazard quotient (THQ) values of seven heavy metal elements in fish were all lower than 1.0, indicating that eating fish in this area will not pose a risk to human health. These results provide valuable information for further understanding the status of heavy metal pollution in Haikou Bay and adjacent seas and the development of targeted conversation measures for the environment and fish consumers.
沿海海域的重金属污染可能对水产养殖和人类健康造成严重威胁。本研究旨在更好地了解海口湾及其邻近海域重金属污染的情况，并评估其潜在的生态风险。对海口湾及其邻近海域表层和底层水中、表层沉积物中以及五种鱼类体内的重金属（包括 Cu、Pb、Zn、Cd、Cr、Hg 和 As）的空间分布进行了分析。对于海水，研究结果表明，由于陆源径流、港口航运和海流运动等复杂因素的影响，该地区七种重金属元素的水平分布没有统一的模式。相比之下，这些重金属元素的垂直分布，除 Zn 和 Cd 外，均表现为表层水中浓度较高，底层水中浓度较低。由于 Zn 和 Cd 之间存在共生关系，这两个元素在研究区域的分布相似。与水中重金属的复杂分布不同，除 Pb 外，表层沉积物中这些元素的最高浓度均出现在 11 号站位。我们的研究表明，有机碳和硫化物是影响表层沉积物中重金属浓度的重要因素。根据中国海水水质标准和沉积物质量标准，水中和表层沉积物中的重金属含量均低于一类标准，除水中的 Zn 外，这表明海口湾及其邻近海域的海水和表层沉积物尚未受到重金属污染。此外，重金属 As 是影响本研究区域鱼类质量的主要元素，今后应予以关注。七种重金属元素在鱼类中的目标危害商（THQ）值均低于 1.0，表明在该地区食用鱼类不会对人体健康构成威胁。这些结果为进一步了解海口湾及其邻近海域重金属污染状况以及为环境和鱼类消费者制定有针对性的保护措施提供了有价值的信息。
