PURPOSE: This study aimed to perform a systematic review to analyse the seasonal concentration and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals (HMs) in seawater and sediment samples collected from the coastline of Jam city in Bushehr, Iran. METHODS: A total of 96 sediment and seawater samples were collected from 16 sampling stations during the spring, summer, autumn, and winter of 2017. Then, the concentrations of Pb, Ni, Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, and Fe were determined. Finally, the pollution load index (PLI), ecological risk (Er), and environmental risk (RI) were calculated to assess the HM ecological risk. RESULTS: The results showed that the mean concentrations of HMs were lower than the maximum acceptable concentration by SQG and NOAA. In addition, the PLI assessed a low pollution load level in the region. The ER and RI results also showed that the region was at low risk, and the metal risk was classified as Cd > Cu > Pb > Ni > Zn > Cr. In some samples, the mean concentrations of HM were found to be higher with a statistically significant difference (P˂0.05). The results also showed that sediments were engaging in a moderate Er by Cd. CONCLUSIONS: Generally, the rapid growth of urbanization, as well as industrial and human activities, along this coastline and area has increased the pollutants dumped into the seawater and sediments. Thus, it is necessary to take regular monitoring programs and develop better management strategies to minimize the amount of HMs entering into this coastal area.

Department of Agroecology Environmental Sciences Research Institute Shahid Beheshti University Tehran Iran

Department of Environment Malayer University Malayer Iran

Department of Geography Ghent University Ghent Belgium

Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering Babeş Bolyai University Cluj Napoca Romania

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Grape Environmental Science Department Research Institute for Grapes and Raisin Malayer University Malayer Iran

Iran Shrimp Research Center Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization Bushehr Iran

Research Group Climate Change and Security Institute of Geography University of Hamburg Hamburg Germany

See more in PubMed

Gonzalez-Macias C, Schifter I, Lluch-Cota D, Mendez-Rodriguez L, Hernandez-Vazquez S. Distribution, enrichment and accumulation of heavy metals in coastal sediments of Salina Cruz Bay. Mexico Environ Monit Assess. 2006;118(1–3):211–230. doi: 10.1007/s10661-006-1492-8. PubMed DOI

Qu C, Li J, Albanese S, Lima A, Wang M, Sacchi M, Molisso F, De Vivo B. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the sediments of the gulfs of Naples and Salerno, southern Italy: status, sources and ecological risk. Ecotox Environ Safe. 2018;161:156–163. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2018.05.077. PubMed DOI

Pal D, Maiti SK. Seasonal variation of heavy metals in water, sediment, and highly consumed cultured fish (Labeo rohita and Labeo bata) and potential health risk assessment in aquaculture pond of the coal city, Dhanbad (India). Environ Sci Pollut R. 2018:1–17. PubMed

Virha R, Biswas A, Kakaria V, Qureshi T, Borana K, Malik N. Seasonal variation in physicochemical parameters and heavy metals in water of upper Lake of Bhopal. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol. 2011;86(2):168–174. doi: 10.1007/s00128-010-0172-0. PubMed DOI

Abdollahi S, Raoufi Z, Faghiri I, Savari A, Nikpour Y, Mansouri A. Contamination levels and spatial distributions of heavy metals and PAHs in surface sediment of imam Khomeini port, Persian gulf. Iran Marine Pollut Bulletin. 2013;71(1–2):336–345. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.01.025. PubMed DOI

Safahieh A, Abyar H, Roostan Z, Zolgharnein H, Mojoodi F. Isolation and characterization of Pseudomonas resistant to heavy metals and poly aromatics hydrocarbons (PAHs) from Persian gulf sediments. Afr J Biotechnol. 2012;11(19):4418–4423.

Sharifinia M, Taherizadeh M, Namin JI, Kamrani E. Ecological risk assessment of trace metals in the surface sediments of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman: evidence from subtropical estuaries of the Iranian coastal waters. Chemosphere. 2018;191:485–493. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.10.077. PubMed DOI

Pourang N, Dennis J. Distribution of trace elements in tissues of two shrimp species from the Persian Gulf and roles of metallothionein in their redistribution. Environ Inter. 2005;31(3):325–341. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2004.08.003. PubMed DOI

Fernandez-Maestre R, Johnson-Restrepo B, Olivero-Verbel J. Heavy metals in sediments and fish in the Caribbean coast of Colombia: assessing the environmental risk. Inter J Environ Res. 2018:1–13.

Achary MS, Satpathy K, Panigrahi S, Mohanty A, Padhi R, Biswas S, Prabhu R, Vijayalakshmi S, Panigrahy R. Concentration of heavy metals in the food chain components of the nearshore coastal waters of Kalpakkam, southeast coast of India. Food Control. 2017;72:232–243. doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.04.028. DOI

Wang S-L, Xu X-R, Sun Y-X, Liu J-L, Li H-B. Heavy metal pollution in coastal areas of South China: a review. Marine Pollut Bulletin. 2013;76(1–2):7–15. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.08.025. PubMed DOI

Zhu Y-G, Williams PN, Meharg AA. Exposure to inorganic arsenic from rice: a global health issue? Environ Pollut. 2008;154(2):169–171. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2008.03.015. PubMed DOI

Maleki A, Amini H, Nazmara S, Zandi S, Mahvi AH. Spatial distribution of heavy metals in soil, water, and vegetables of farms in Sanandaj, Kurdistan. Iran J Environ Health Sci Engineer. 2014;12:136. doi: 10.1186/s40201-014-0136-0. PubMed DOI PMC

He M, Shen H, Li Z, Wang L, Wang F, Zhao K, Liu X, Wendroth O, Xu J. Ten-year regional monitoring of soil-rice grain contamination by heavy metals with implications for target remediation and food safety. Environ Pollut. 2019;244:431–439. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.070. PubMed DOI

Sharaf HM, Shehata AM. Heavy metals and hydrocarbon concentrations in water, sediments and tissue of Cyclope neritea from two sites in Suez Canal. Egypt and histopathological effects J Environ Health Sci Engineer. 2015;13:14. doi: 10.1186/s40201-015-0171-5. PubMed DOI PMC

Bat, L., Özkan, E.Y. Heavy metal levels in sediment of the Turkish Black Sea coast. Oceanography and Coastal Informatics: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice. IGI Global. 2019; 86–107.

Altındağ A, Yiğit S. Assessment of heavy metal concentrations in the food web of Lake Beyşehir. Turkey Chemosphere. 2005;60(4):552–556. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2005.01.009. PubMed DOI

Li L, Wang X, Zhu A, Yang G, Liu J. Assessing metal toxicity in sediments of Yellow River wetland and its surrounding coastal areas. China Estuar Coast Mar Sci. 2014;151:302–309. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2014.07.010. DOI

Mirzaei M, Marofi S, Solgi E, Abbasi M, Karimi R, Bakhtyari HRR. Ecological and health risks of soil and grape heavy metals in long-term fertilized vineyards (Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province of Iran). Environ Geochem Hlth. 2019:1–17. PubMed

Veerasingam S, Venkatachalapathy R, Ramkumar T. Historical environmental pollution trend and ecological risk assessment of trace metals in marine sediments off Adyar estuary, bay of Bengal. India Environ Earth Sci. 2014;71(9):3963–3975. doi: 10.1007/s12665-013-2781-5. DOI

Zhang L, Liao Q, Shao S, Zhang N, Shen Q, Liu C. Heavy metal pollution, fractionation, and potential ecological risks in sediments from Lake Chaohu (eastern China) and the surrounding rivers. IJERPH. 2015;12(11):14115–14131. doi: 10.3390/ijerph121114115. PubMed DOI PMC

Gurumoorthi K, Venkatachalapathy R. Spatial and seasonal trend of trace metals and ecological risk assessment along Kanyakumari coastal sediments, southern India. 2016.

Rajeshkumar S, Liu Y, Zhang X, Ravikumar B, Bai G, Li X. Studies on seasonal pollution of heavy metals in water, sediment, fish and oyster from the Meiliang Bay of Taihu Lake in China. Chemosphere. 2018;191:626–638. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.10.078. PubMed DOI

Yap C, Ismail A, Tan S, Omar H. Correlations between speciation of cd, cu, Pb and Zn in sediment and their concentrations in total soft tissue of green-lipped mussel Perna viridis from the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. Environ Inter. 2002;28(1–2):117–126. doi: 10.1016/S0160-4120(02)00015-6. PubMed DOI

Tomlinson D, Wilson J, Harris C, Jeffrey D. Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index. Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen. 1980;33(1):566. doi: 10.1007/BF02414780. DOI

Hakanson L. An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control. A sedimentological approach. Water Res. 1980;14(8):975–1001. doi: 10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8. DOI

Dobaradaran S, Soleimani F, Nabipour I, Saeedi R, Mohammadi MJ. Heavy metal levels of ballast waters in commercial ships entering Bushehr port along the Persian Gulf. Mar Pollut Bull. 2018;126:74–76. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.10.094. PubMed DOI

Pakzad HR, Pasandi M, Soleimani M, Kamali M. Distribution and origin of heavy metals in the sand sediments in a sector of the Oman Sea (the Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran) Quat Int. 2014;345:138–147. doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2014.03.031. DOI

Long ER, Macdonald DD, Smith SL, Calder FD. Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ Manag. 1995;19(1):81–97. doi: 10.1007/BF02472006. DOI

Hashemi SJ, Riahi Bakhtiari A, Lak R. Source identification and distribution of Lead, copper, zinc, nickel, chromium and vanadium in surface sediments of Caspian Sea. Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Science. 2013;22(1):36–50.

Bastami KD, Afkhami M, Mohammadizadeh M, Ehsanpour M, Chambari S, Aghaei S, Esmaeilzadeh M, Neyestani MR, Lagzaee F, Baniamam M. Bioaccumulation and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in the sediments and mullet Liza klunzingeri in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. Marine Pollut Bulletin. 2015;94(1–2):329–334. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.01.019. PubMed DOI

Niu H, Deng W, Wu Q, Chen X. Potential toxic risk of heavy metals from sediment of the Pearl River in South China. J Environ Sci. 2009;21(8):1053–1058. doi: 10.1016/S1001-0742(08)62381-5. PubMed DOI

Janadeleh H, Jahangiri S, Kameli MA. Assessment of heavy metal pollution and ecological risk in marine sediments (a case study: Persian gulf) Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal. 2008;24(8):2265–2274. doi: 10.1080/10807039.2018.1443792. DOI

Davoodi H, Gharibreza M, Negarestan H, Mortazavi MS, Lak R. Ecological risk assessment of the Assaluyeh and Bassatin estuaries (northern Persian gulf) using sediment quality indices. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci. 2017;192:17–28. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.05.003. DOI

Topcuoğlu S, Kırbaşoğlu Ç, Güngör N. Heavy metals in organisms and sediments from Turkish coast of the Black Sea, 1997–1998. Environ Int. 2002;27(7):521–526. doi: 10.1016/S0160-4120(01)00099-X. PubMed DOI

Arfaeinia H, Asadgol Z, Ahmadi E, Seifi M, Moradi M, Dobaradaran S. Characteristics, distribution and sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in coastal sediments from the heavily industrialized area of Asalouyeh, Iran. Water Science and Technology. 2017;76(12):3340–3350. doi: 10.2166/wst.2017.500. PubMed DOI

Radakovitch O, Roussiez V, Ollivier P, Ludwig W, Grenz C, Probst J-L. Input of particulate heavy metals from rivers and associated sedimentary deposits on the Gulf of Lion continental shelf. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 2008;77(2):285–295. doi: 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.09.028. DOI

Sharma A, Pal PB, Rehman MB. Seasonal variation of heavy metals in pre and post-treatment sites of waste water treatment Plant at River Narmada, Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh. India IJCMAS. 2018;7(3):218–229.

Islam MS, Ahmed MK, Habibullah-Al-Mamun M, Hoque MF. Preliminary assessment of heavy metal contamination in surface sediments from a river in Bangladesh. Environ Earth Sci. 2015;73(4):1837–1848. doi: 10.1007/s12665-014-3538-5. DOI

Mortazavi S, Hatami M. Assessment of ecological hazard of heavy metals (Cr, Zn, Cu, Pb) in surface sediments of the Bashar river, Yasouj, Iran. Archives of Hygiene Sciences. 2018:7(1).

Zhou F, Guo H, Hao Z. Spatial distribution of heavy metals in Hong Kong’s marine sediments and their human impacts: a GIS-based chemometric approach. Marine Pollut Bulletin. 2007;54(9):1372–1384. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.05.017. PubMed DOI

Wang X, Zhao L, Xu H, Zhang X. Spatial and seasonal characteristics of dissolved heavy metals in the surface seawater of the Yellow River estuary. China Marine Pollut Bulletin. 2018;137:465–473. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.10.052. PubMed DOI

Raeisi A, Arfaeinia H, Seifi M, Shirzad-Siboni M, Keshtkar M, Dobaradaran S. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in coastal sediments from urban and industrial areas of Asaluyeh Harbor, Iran: distribution, potential source and ecological risk assessment. Water Sci Technol. 2016;74(4):957–973. doi: 10.2166/wst.2016.265. PubMed DOI

Dehghani M, Nabipour I, Dobaradaran S, Godarzi H. Trace metals level in sediments and bivalve Trachycardium lacunosum shell in the Persian Gulf. Int J Environ Sci Technol. 2019;16(1):413–422. doi: 10.1007/s13762-017-1584-8. DOI

Hamed MA. Chemical forms of copper, zinc, lead and cadmium in sediments of the northern part of the Red Sea. Egypt Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences. 2007;16(2):69–78.

Kamala-Kannan S, Batvari BPD, Lee KJ, Kannan N, Krishnamoorthy R, Shanthi K, Jayaprakash M. Assessment of heavy metals (cd, Cr and Pb) in water, sediment and seaweed (Ulva lactuca) in the Pulicat Lake. South East India Chemosphere. 2008;71(7):1233–1240. PubMed

Kannan SK, Krishnamoorthy R. Isolation of mercury resistant bacteria and influence of abiotic factors on bioavailability of mercury—a case study in Pulicat Lake north of Chennai, south East India. Sci Total Environ. 2006;367(1):341–353. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.12.003. PubMed DOI

Irwin R, Van Mouwerik M, Stevens L, Seese MD, Basham W. Environmental contaminants encyclopedia, copper entry. Fort Collins, Colorado: Water Resources Division; 1997.

Poté J, Haller L, Loizeau J-L, Bravo AG, Sastre V, Wildi W. Effects of a sewage treatment plant outlet pipe extension on the distribution of contaminants in the sediments of the bay of Vidy, Lake Geneva. Switzerland Bioresource Technology. 2008;99(15):7122–7131. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2007.12.075. PubMed DOI

Bellas J, Ekelund R, Halldórsson HP, Berggren M, Granmo Å. Monitoring of organic compounds and trace metals during a dredging episode in the Göta Älv estuary (SW Sweden) using caged mussels. Water, Air, and Soil Pollut. 2007;181(1–4):265–279. doi: 10.1007/s11270-006-9298-4. DOI

Huang S-H. Fractional distribution and risk assessment of heavy metal contaminated soil in vicinity of a lead/zinc mine. T Nonferr Metal Soc. 2014;24(10):3324–3331. doi: 10.1016/S1003-6326(14)63473-7. DOI

SEPA. Quality criteria for lakes and watercourses. Chapter 6: Metals. Suggested revision for EPA guidelines, as of 4/27/98. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 1998; 18–23.

Persaud, D., Jaagumagi, R., Hayton, A. Guidelines for the Protection and Management of Aquatic Sediment Quality in Ontario; Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Energy: Toronto, ON, Canada, 1993, 0–7729–9248-7.

Mansour, A.M., Nawar, A.H., Madkour, H.A. Metal pollution in marine sediments of selected harbours and industrial areas along the Red Sea coast of Egypt. Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie, 2011; 225–244.