Heavy metal concentrations in 36 samples of surface sediments from Hainan Island rivers were determined to evaluate the level of contamination in the region. Heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) of Hainan Island rivers were in the range of 0.01–0.58 mg/kg for Hg, 0.09–0.70 mg/kg for Cd, 1.80–36.87 mg/kg for As, 15.33–69.32 mg/kg for Pb, 4.46–150.89 mg/kg for Cu, 6.64–104.95 mg/kg for Cr and 22.11–199.11 mg/kg for Zn. Contamination indices including contamination factor, enrichment factor, and geoaccumulation index, and multivariate statistical analyses indicated that Wenlan River was relatively at a considerable pollution level; Nandu, Changhua, Lingshui, Wanquan and Zhubi rivers were at a low-to-moderate pollution level; Beimen and Ningyuan rivers were at a level of relatively low pollution. Principal component analysis indicated that Cd, Pb, Cr and Zn were predominantly sourced from anthropogenic sources; whereas, Cu, As and Hg were from lithogenic sources. This study would be helpful for sustainable land use and marine management in the region.
CITATION STYLE
Zhao, D., Wan, S., Yu, Z., & Huang, J. (2015). Distribution, enrichment and sources of heavy metals in surface sediments of Hainan Island rivers, China. Environmental Earth Sciences, 74(6), 5097–5110. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4522-4
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