An assessment of heavy metal contamination in the marine soil/sediment of Coles Bay Area, Svalbard, and Greater Bay Area, China: a baseline survey from a rapidly developing bay

• Published in: Environmental Science and Pollution Research
• Main Authors: Leung, Ho Man, Cheung, Kwai Chung, Au, Chi Kin, Yung, Ken Kin Lam, Li, Wai Chin
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2021
• Subjects: Short Research and Discussion Article; Svalbard
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7968553/; https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-13489-2

The objective of this research is to investigate the pollution levels of tin (Sn), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn) of soil/sediment taken in Coles Bay Area (CBA), Svalbard, and Great Bay Area (GBA), China, in an attempt to evaluate the pollution potential related to recent development in the areas. A total of 150 soil/sediment samples were collected in each location. Heavy metal concentrations were detectable levels at all sites and the values of Cd of all soil/sediment samples were higher than Dutch Target and Intervention Values. Heavy metal concentration in soil/sediment was further analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA). It was revealed that three components were found in two studying sites and contributed 60.2% and 75.9% of variations to reflect soil/sediment quality in CBA and GBA, respectively. Based on the results of KMO (0.52) and Bartlett’s test (p < 0.000), there are 32.1%, 15.6%, and 11.1% and 39.45%, 19.01%, and 17.52% of the variance in the first, second, and third component explained that the metal concentration of Pb, Cd, and Sn was highly correlated with the soil/sediment quality in CBA and GBA, respectively. Among these three heavy metals, Cd concentration was the common dominant factor to affect soil/sediment quality in these two study sites. It is recommended that investigation of the sources of pollution (either point or non-point source) during CBA or GBA development and management together with consideration of abiotic (soil)-biotic (organisms) interactions should be taken into account when choosing suitable remediation strategies in the future.