Estimation of Background Values and Contamination Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Sediments of the Pearl River, China

doi:10.19657/j.geoscience.1000-8527.2019.02.05

Abstract

Abstract:

Estimating the background values and identifying anomalies are very important to discriminate anthropogenic contamination source and assess environmental risk of heavy metals. We collected and analyzed 58 sediment samples from different branches and channels of the Pearl River, China. Based on geochemical and statistical analysis, Al, Fe and Sc were proved suitable for as reference elements. Different methods of obtaining geochemical background values and outliers of heavy metals were presented and compared in this paper. A useful way to estimate the geochemical background values is provided by regression based on the least trimmed sum of squares (LTS), which is a robust statistical approach showing low sensitivity to outliers. Both boxplots of local enrichment factor and regression diagnostic plots turn out to be better for identifying outliers. Results show that contamination varied in the different segments of the Pearl River. The North River and Pearl River channels were contaminated by As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn and the East River by Cu, Cr and Ni while there was almost no contamination in the West River. Point source contamination remains a major cause of contamination to sediments. Main sources of heavy metals may be industrial contamination such as mining and electroplating.

Key words: geochemical background value, contamination, heavy metal, the Pearl River, stream sediment

CLC Number:

P595
X142

WEI Bin, HOU Qingye, TANG Zhimin, ZONG Qingxia, YAN Shuai, HE Haiyun. Estimation of Background Values and Contamination Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Sediments of the Pearl River, China[J]. Geoscience, 2019, 33(02): 293-304.

Figures/Tables 8

References 41

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地点	含量	Al₂O₃	SiO₂	TFe₂O₃	As	Cd	Cr	Cu	Hg	Ni	Pb	Zn
东江	最小值	4.5	58.1	0.72	3.4	0.04	6.7	4.6	0.008	3.6	21.2	17.5
	最大值	21.6	89.2	6.42	22.5	0.27	69.4	59.3	0.086	58.0	65.2	105.9
	中位数	7.7	82.5	1.95	7.4	0.13	19.9	23.0	0.016	9.7	30.5	61.2
	平均值	9.0	80.1	2.46	9.6	0.13	29.0	25.0	0.033	17.6	34.6	62.1
	标准差	5.2	9.8	1.82	5.9	0.08	23.6	20.4	0.031	16.9	13.1	39.9
河网	最小值	5.4	58.1	1.92	10.2	0.26	21.7	6.7	0.022	2.9	26.6	50.3
	最大值	20.2	85.8	6.86	79.0	3.90	114.5	99.5	0.200	61.7	137.8	333.5
	中位数	12.5	66.6	5.59	30.5	0.88	84.8	32.8	0.151	25.9	66.5	223.1
	平均值	13.3	70.2	5.15	34.3	1.38	73.1	45.0	0.129	26.8	67.9	201.5
	标准差	5.5	10.7	1.81	22.5	1.25	29.9	39.2	0.064	19.4	36.1	103.0
北江	最小值	1.1	63.9	0.35	1.4	0.05	3.6	3.0	0.002	1.4	8.3	8.7
	最大值	17.4	92.2	5.43	95.8	4.36	68.7	93.3	0.617	51.5	127.5	486.3
	中位数	6.6	85.3	2.00	14.6	0.82	22.0	22.0	0.056	12.3	36.1	51.9
	平均值	8.1	81.8	2.51	26.5	1.42	28.1	31.4	0.110	17.5	51.7	109.2
	标准差	4.2	7.8	1.50	27.8	1.33	20.4	29.0	0.153	14.1	34.6	121.5
西江	最小值	4.7	58.2	2.42	12.9	0.17	32.5	11.6	0.031	12.9	21.2	51.4
	最大值	18.9	87.6	7.79	68.1	4.51	105.9	57.1	0.262	51.8	110.2	349.2
	中位数	12.8	71.4	5.13	27.4	1.18	64.2	29.2	0.127	28.1	40.2	127.8
	平均值	11.9	72.6	5.25	28.7	1.39	67.0	30.2	0.123	29.3	44.5	144.3
	标准差	4.7	8.9	1.37	13.3	1.03	20.1	11.8	0.065	10.5	20.6	70.5
全国^①		12.8	65.2	4.5	12.0	0.18	61.0	23.0	0.046	26.0	27.0	71.0
珠江^②		12.9	61.8	6.5	17.0	0.09	86.0	38.0	0.093	35.0	30.0	85.0
全国^③		12.8	65.5	4.3	8.0	0.11	54.0	20.0	0.027	22.0	22.0	65.0

地点	含量	Al₂O₃	SiO₂	TFe₂O₃	As	Cd	Cr	Cu	Hg	Ni	Pb	Zn
东江	最小值	4.5	58.1	0.72	3.4	0.04	6.7	4.6	0.008	3.6	21.2	17.5
	最大值	21.6	89.2	6.42	22.5	0.27	69.4	59.3	0.086	58.0	65.2	105.9
	中位数	7.7	82.5	1.95	7.4	0.13	19.9	23.0	0.016	9.7	30.5	61.2
	平均值	9.0	80.1	2.46	9.6	0.13	29.0	25.0	0.033	17.6	34.6	62.1
	标准差	5.2	9.8	1.82	5.9	0.08	23.6	20.4	0.031	16.9	13.1	39.9
河网	最小值	5.4	58.1	1.92	10.2	0.26	21.7	6.7	0.022	2.9	26.6	50.3
	最大值	20.2	85.8	6.86	79.0	3.90	114.5	99.5	0.200	61.7	137.8	333.5
	中位数	12.5	66.6	5.59	30.5	0.88	84.8	32.8	0.151	25.9	66.5	223.1
	平均值	13.3	70.2	5.15	34.3	1.38	73.1	45.0	0.129	26.8	67.9	201.5
	标准差	5.5	10.7	1.81	22.5	1.25	29.9	39.2	0.064	19.4	36.1	103.0
北江	最小值	1.1	63.9	0.35	1.4	0.05	3.6	3.0	0.002	1.4	8.3	8.7
	最大值	17.4	92.2	5.43	95.8	4.36	68.7	93.3	0.617	51.5	127.5	486.3
	中位数	6.6	85.3	2.00	14.6	0.82	22.0	22.0	0.056	12.3	36.1	51.9
	平均值	8.1	81.8	2.51	26.5	1.42	28.1	31.4	0.110	17.5	51.7	109.2
	标准差	4.2	7.8	1.50	27.8	1.33	20.4	29.0	0.153	14.1	34.6	121.5
西江	最小值	4.7	58.2	2.42	12.9	0.17	32.5	11.6	0.031	12.9	21.2	51.4
	最大值	18.9	87.6	7.79	68.1	4.51	105.9	57.1	0.262	51.8	110.2	349.2
	中位数	12.8	71.4	5.13	27.4	1.18	64.2	29.2	0.127	28.1	40.2	127.8
	平均值	11.9	72.6	5.25	28.7	1.39	67.0	30.2	0.123	29.3	44.5	144.3
	标准差	4.7	8.9	1.37	13.3	1.03	20.1	11.8	0.065	10.5	20.6	70.5
全国^①		12.8	65.2	4.5	12.0	0.18	61.0	23.0	0.046	26.0	27.0	71.0
珠江^②		12.9	61.8	6.5	17.0	0.09	86.0	38.0	0.093	35.0	30.0	85.0
全国^③		12.8	65.5	4.3	8.0	0.11	54.0	20.0	0.027	22.0	22.0	65.0

地球化学背景函数	R²	样品数
As=4.259×Al-1.586	0.86	58
As=7.403×Fe-0.007	0.82	58
As=2.557×Sc-0.306	0.84	58
Cd=0.202×Al-0.207	0.36	58
Cd=0.388×Fe-0.184	0.50	58
Cd=0.117×Sc-0.071	0.60	58
Cu=4.510×Al+0.305	0.36	58
Cu=8.970×Fe-1.245	0.89	58
Cu=2.937×Sc-0.119	0.94	58
Cr=11.801×Al-18.984	0.86	58
Cr=19.644×Fe-6.002	0.98	57
Cr=6.541×Sc-4.804	0.95	58
Hg=0.024×Al-0.042	0.81	58
Hg=0.045×Fe-0.035	0.89	54
Hg=0.014×Sc-0.031	0.90	58
Ni=4.435×Al-2.165	0.80	58
Ni=8.822×Fe-2.354	0.91	58
Ni=3.044×Sc-2.555	0.97	57
Pb=4.889×Al+13.196	0.77	58
Pb=7.690×Fe+19.490	0.54	58
Pb=2.475×Sc+19.252	0.60	58
Zn=23.602×Al-17.931	0.79	58
Zn=38.502×Fe-1.007	0.87	58
Zn=13.109×Sc-2.392	0.91	58

地球化学背景函数	R²	样品数
As=4.259×Al-1.586	0.86	58
As=7.403×Fe-0.007	0.82	58
As=2.557×Sc-0.306	0.84	58
Cd=0.202×Al-0.207	0.36	58
Cd=0.388×Fe-0.184	0.50	58
Cd=0.117×Sc-0.071	0.60	58
Cu=4.510×Al+0.305	0.36	58
Cu=8.970×Fe-1.245	0.89	58
Cu=2.937×Sc-0.119	0.94	58
Cr=11.801×Al-18.984	0.86	58
Cr=19.644×Fe-6.002	0.98	57
Cr=6.541×Sc-4.804	0.95	58
Hg=0.024×Al-0.042	0.81	58
Hg=0.045×Fe-0.035	0.89	54
Hg=0.014×Sc-0.031	0.90	58
Ni=4.435×Al-2.165	0.80	58
Ni=8.822×Fe-2.354	0.91	58
Ni=3.044×Sc-2.555	0.97	57
Pb=4.889×Al+13.196	0.77	58
Pb=7.690×Fe+19.490	0.54	58
Pb=2.475×Sc+19.252	0.60	58
Zn=23.602×Al-17.931	0.79	58
Zn=38.502×Fe-1.007	0.87	58
Zn=13.109×Sc-2.392	0.91	58