Fathollahzadeh, Homayoun
- Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Linnaeus University
Abstract
Bottom sediments in coastal regions have been considered the ultimate sink for a number of contaminants, e. g., toxic metals. In this current study, speciation of metals in contaminated sediments of Oskarshamn harbor in the southeast of Sweden was performed in order to evaluate metal contents and their potential mobility and bioavailability. Sediment speciation was carried out by the sequential extraction BCR procedure for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn and the exchangeable (F1), reducible (F2), oxidizable (F3), and residual (R) fractions were determined. The results have shown that Zn and Cd were highly associated with the exchangeable fraction (F1) with 42-58 % and 43-46 %, respectively, of their total concentrations in the mobile phase. The assessment of sediment contamination on the basis of quality guidelines established by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Italian Ministry of Environment (Venice protocol for dredged sediments) has shown that sediments from Oskarshamn harbor are highly contaminated with toxic metals, especially Cu, Cd, Pb, Hg, As, and Zn posing potential ecological risks. Therefore, it is of crucial importance the implementation of adequate strategies to tackle contaminated sediments in coastal regions all over the world.
Keywords
Dredging; Sediments; Harbor; Speciation; Sequential extraction; Metals
Published in
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
2014, volume: 21, number: 4, pages: 2455-2464
Publisher: SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
SLU Authors
Global goals (SDG)
SDG3 Good health and well-being
SDG14 Life below water
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2173-0
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/67729