Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2011, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (2): 102-108.doi: 10.11978/j.issn.1009-5470.2011.02.102cstr: 32234.14.j.issn.1009-5470.2011.02.102

• Mangroves • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Accumulation of heavy metals in sediment of mangrove wetland from Hainan Island

QIU Yao-wen, YU Ke-fu   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oceanography in the Tropics (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, CAS), Guangzhou 510301, China
  • Received:2010-03-29 Revised:2010-04-20 Online:2011-05-06 Published:2011-05-04
  • About author:丘耀文(1965—), 广东省平远县人, 博士, 研究员, 从事海洋环境生态污染研究。Email: yqiu@scsio.ac.cn
  • Supported by:

    海洋公益性行业科研专项(200705026)

Abstract:

Sediment samples were collected in 2008 from the Dongzhai Harbor, Sanya Bay, and Yalong Bay, typical mangrove wetlands of Hainan Island. The concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, and Cr were analyzed using the Atomic Absorption Spec-trometer (SOLAAR M6), and Hg and As, using the Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometer (AFS-8130). The average concentra-tions of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg, and As in surface sediments are 14.8±9.2, 24.1±9.2, 57.9±36.5, 0.17±0.10, 29.6±20.4, 0.08±0.04, and 9.7±4.4 µg•g?1 dry weight, respectively. The levels of target chemicals except for Cd in sediments show the following order: Dongzhai Harbor > Sanya Bay > Yalong Bay, while the levels of Cd were generally similar among the study-ing areas. Compared with those from other typical mangrove wetlands of the world, heavy metal levels in sediments from these studying areas are in low- to median-levels, which is consistent with the factors that Hainan Island is still in low exploi-tation and its mangroves suffer little impact from human activities. The vertical profiles of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cr, and Hg con-centrations in core sediments show the highest values in the middle-upper layers and the lowest values in the bottom layers, with the in-between values in the surface layers; while the vertical profiles of As have the highest concentrations in the bot-tom-layer sediments and the lowest concentrations in the middle- to upper-layer sediments, and the concentrations of surface sediments are in between the two. Potential risk assessment shows that the pollution status of all target heavy metals except As is still low and therefore their ecological and environmental effects are also low.

Key words: heavy metal, sediment, mangrove, wetland, Hainan Island