Impacts of inland pollution input on coastal water quality of the Bohai Sea

Di Zhou; Miao Yu; Junbao Yu; Yunzhao Li; Bo Guan; Xuehong Wang; Zhikang Wang; Zhenbo Lv; Fanzhu Qu; Jisong Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142691

Impacts of inland pollution input on coastal water quality of the Bohai Sea

Sci Total Environ. 2021 Apr 15:765:142691. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142691. Epub 2020 Oct 3.

Authors

Di Zhou¹, Miao Yu¹, Junbao Yu², Yunzhao Li¹, Bo Guan³, Xuehong Wang¹, Zhikang Wang¹, Zhenbo Lv¹, Fanzhu Qu⁴, Jisong Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Conservation of Coastal Wetlands in Universities of Shandong, Ludong University, The Institute for Advanced Study of Coastal Ecology, Yantai 264003, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Conservation of Coastal Wetlands in Universities of Shandong, Ludong University, The Institute for Advanced Study of Coastal Ecology, Yantai 264003, PR China. Electronic address: junbao.yu@gmail.com.
³ Key Laboratory of Coastal Environment Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China.
⁴ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Eco-Environmental Science for Yellow River Delta, Binzhou University, Binzhou 256601, PR China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration and Conservation of Coastal Wetlands in Universities of Shandong, Ludong University, The Institute for Advanced Study of Coastal Ecology, Yantai 264003, PR China. Electronic address: yjswill@126.com.

PMID: 33071119
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142691

Abstract

Inland pollutants input is a key impact factor for the coastal water quality of the Bohai Sea. The coastal and inland water pollutant inputs were analyzed by using monitoring data of recent years from the State Oceanic Administration. The results showed that more than 56% of the Bohai Sea area was unclean seawater in 2012, although the water quality improved gradually after that time. In 2017, about one-third of the Bohai Sea area still had unclean seawater. Inorganic nitrogen, reactive phosphate, and petroleum hydrocarbons are the main pollutants in the seawater. A total of approximately 840,000 t of pollutants was transported to the sea each year by major rivers during 2010-2017. Significant correlations (p < 0.05) were found between the third-grade level seawater area and the pollutants of COD_cr, petroleum, NO₃^--N, NH₄⁺-N, NO₂^--N, Cu, and Pb and between the inferior fourth-grade level seawater area and the pollutants of petroleum, NO₂^--N, Pb, and NO₃^--N. The standard discharge rate of terrestrial-source sewage outlets was no more than 50%. The low standard discharge rate of the major terrestrial-source sewage pollutants of COD_cr, NH₄⁺-N, TP, BOD₅, and SS caused more than 80% of the monitored sea areas adjacent to the selected key sewage outlets to not meet the water quality requirements of the marine functional area. The results suggest that implementing a coastal water management plan is necessary to reduce the heavy ecological burdens on the coastal zone of the Bohai Sea.

Keywords: Bohai Sea; Coastal water quality; Heavy metals; Inland pollution input; Inorganic nitrogen.