Distributions, Compositions, and Ecological Risk Assessment of Typical Pollutants in Surface Sediment of Xihe River, China
Abstract Distributions and compositions of six phthalic acid esters (PAEs), eight phenol compounds and seven heavy metals in riverbed sediments of the Xihe River in Shenyang, China. The ecological risks of these typical pollutants were investigated and evaluated based on the risk quotient (RQ) and potential ecological risk index (PERI) methods. The concentrations of total ∑6PAEs, ∑8phenols and ∑7heavy metals in sediments varied from 92.83 to 293.66 μg/g dw, 8.87 to 83.73 μg/g dw and 0.46 to 419μg/g dw. The main pollutants in Xihe River sediments are DEHP, DIBP, phenol, P-methylphenol and Cd. More than half target PAEs and phenol compounds in sediment of the Xihe River exhibited medium or high ecological risk. Cd poses a very high ecological risk to the Xihe River Basin. It is imperative to take some effective measures to reduce the pollution of those contaminants.