Taipu River is a river spanning two provinces and one city in a demonstration area in the Yangtze River Delta on an ecologically friendly developmentand an important water source in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. To understand the multi-media distribution characteristics, pollution status, and ecological risk of heavy metals in the Taipu River, the contents of heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) in the sediments of Taipu River were analyzed, and the pollution status and potential ecological risk were evaluated using the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index, geo-accumulation index, and potential ecological risk index methods. In addition, the health risk assessment model was used to assess the health risk of heavy metals in surface water of Taipu River. The results showed that the concentrations of Cd, Cr, Mn, and Ni in the surface water of Taipu River exceeded the class Ⅲ water limit at the upstream point in spring; the concentrations of Sb exceeded the class Ⅲ water limit at all points in winter; the average value of As exceeded the class Ⅲ water limit in overlying water during the wet season; and the average values of As and Cd exceeded the class Ⅲ water limit in pore water during the wet season. The health risk assessment of surface water implied that both adults and children had higher health risk in spring and lower health risk in other seasons. The health risk of children was significantly higher than that of adults, and it mainly came from chemical carcinogenic heavy metal elements As, Cd, and Cr. The average contents of Co, Mn, Sb, and Zn in Taipu River sediments in the four seasons all exceeded the Shanghai soil baseline; the average contents of As, Cr, and Cu in summer, autumn, and winter exceeded the Shanghai soil baseline; and the average contents of Cd, Ni, and Pb in summer and winter exceeded the Shanghai soil baseline. The evaluation results of the Nemerow comprehensive pollution index and geo-accumulation index showed that the pollution degree of the middle reaches of Taipu River was higher than that of the upper and lower reaches, and the Sb pollution was more serious. The potential ecological risk index method revealed that the Taipu River sediment was at a low risk. Cd had a high contribution in both the wet and dry seasons and could be regarded as the main heavy metal of potential ecological risk in the Taipu River sediment.
Keywords: Taipu River; health risk assessment; heavy metals; pollution assessment; sediments; water.