Heavy metals speciation in surface sediments of the Cross River Estuary, Gulf of Guinea, South East Nigeria

Solomon Felix Dan; Enobong Charles Udoh; Jiaodi Zhou; Buddhi Wijesiri; Shuai Ding; Bin Yang; Dongliang Lu; Qianqian Wang

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114257

Heavy metals speciation in surface sediments of the Cross River Estuary, Gulf of Guinea, South East Nigeria

Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Dec;185(Pt A):114257. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114257. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

Authors

Solomon Felix Dan¹, Enobong Charles Udoh², Jiaodi Zhou³, Buddhi Wijesiri⁴, Shuai Ding⁵, Bin Yang⁶, Dongliang Lu⁶, Qianqian Wang⁷

Affiliations

¹ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster in the Beibu Gulf, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou 535011, China. Electronic address: solomon.dan86@yahoo.com.
² State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
³ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster in the Beibu Gulf, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou 535011, China. Electronic address: ZHoujodie@bbgu.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Criteria and Risk Assessment, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing 100012, China.
⁶ Guangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Disaster in the Beibu Gulf, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou 535011, China.
⁷ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.

PMID: 36274556
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114257

Abstract

The speciation of heavy metals (Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd) was studied in surface sediments of the Cross River Estuary (CRE), Gulf of Guinea, South East Nigeria. Pb (~56 %), Cd (~71 %), Zn (~67 %), and Cr (~76 %) were mainly available in non-residual phases, suggesting potential bioavailability. High contents of Ni and Cu in residual phase indicated immobilization of these metals in aluminosilicate minerals. Cd was the most polluted heavy metal with the highest bioavailability risk. Bayesian Network model results revealed that sedimentary organic carbon (OC) from terrestrial C₃ plants controlled the contents and variability of Pb and Zn, while the input of terrestrial soil OC strongly influenced Cu and Ni. However, Cd and Cr were dominantly influenced by sediment pH, while Ni was mainly influenced by sediment salinity. Strong interdependency between Cd and total nitrogen (TN) suggested that nitrogen might increase Cd bioavailability upon release from sediments.

Keywords: Bioavailability; Estuarine sediments; Heavy metals; Influencing factors; Speciation.

MeSH terms

Bayes Theorem
Cadmium
China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Estuaries
Geologic Sediments / chemistry
Guinea
Lead
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Nigeria
Nitrogen
Risk Assessment
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Cadmium
Lead
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Metals, Heavy
Nitrogen