Heavy Metal Contamination and Ecological Risk Assessments in Urban Mangrove Sediments in Zhanjiang Bay, South China

[Image: see text] With the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, increasing attention has been paid to the problem of heavy metal pollution in mangroves and its ecological restoration. Urban mangroves can be used to measure the impact of human activities on the urban ecological environment because mangroves are sensitive to human activities. However, studies on the evaluation of heavy metal elements in urban mangroves are still limited. Consequently, this study selected the urban mangroves in a central commercial area of Zhanjiang Bay as a case study to investigate the content and distribution of the heavy metals (Co, V, Cu, Pb, Ni, As, Cd, and Hg) in mangrove surface sediments. Risk levels and possible sources of heavy metals were evaluated based on multivariate statistical analysis methods and pollution indices. The results showed that the average concentrations of heavy metals for Co, V, Cu, Pb, Ni, As, Cd, and Hg were 2.91, 29.96, 18.24, 20.07, 7.86, 5.0, 0.20, and 0.09 mg/kg, respectively. Cd, Cu, and Hg were most prominent within the Zhanjiang Bay mangrove sediments, whereas other metals showed a low contamination factor of therm. Cd displayed a high potential ecological risk followed by Hg and Cu. The sampling site, the sewage outlet sampling site, exhibited the highest pollution degree followed by the surrounding area of the sewage outlet sampling site. Those polluted heavy metals could arise from anthropogenic sources, including domestic sewage and automobile exhaust emission. Correlation analysis between the heavy metals and physicochemical properties indicated that fine particles and organic matter play a key role in controlling heavy metal enrichment.