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Analysis of heavy metal contamination in surface sediments of Iskenderun Bay, Turkey Cover

Analysis of heavy metal contamination in surface sediments of Iskenderun Bay, Turkey

Open Access
|Dec 2021

Abstract

The ecological risk resulting from the accumulation of some heavy metals in the sediments of Iskenderun Bay was assessed using the following measures: enrichment and contamination factor, pollution load index (PLI), and potential ecological risk index (RI). The concentrations of the studied heavy metals were in the following order: Fe > Ni > Mn > Cr > Zn > Cu > As > Pb > Cd > Hg. Ni and As had the highest EF values. This situation is most likely due to the presence of iron, pesticide, and fertilizer plants in the region. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Ni, As, Mn, and Cr may have harmful effects on faunal communities in sediments. According to the RI, Site 4 was more contaminated and toxic than the other seven study sites, with “moderate” ecological risk. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was determined by multivariate methods – cluster and principal component analysis. As can be inferred from the RI values, the potential toxic effect of As and Ni in the sediments is moderate.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/oandhs-2021-0035 | Journal eISSN: 1897-3191 | Journal ISSN: 1730-413X
Language: English
Page range: 411 - 420
Submitted on: Mar 31, 2021
Accepted on: Jun 23, 2021
Published on: Dec 3, 2021
Published by: University of Gdańsk
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2021 Banu Kutlu, Tahir Özcan, Gülnaz Özcan, published by University of Gdańsk
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.