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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Toxicology, Pollution and the Environment
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1493547

Contamination source, health and ecological risk assessment of hazardous elements in the sediment of the Shahid Rajaee Reservoir

Provisionally accepted
Fatemeh Kachoueiyan Fatemeh Kachoueiyan 1*Pourya Alipour Atmianlu Pourya Alipour Atmianlu 1Armin Rajabi Armin Rajabi 1Fikret Ustaoğlu Fikret Ustaoğlu 2Abdolreza Karbassi Abdolreza Karbassi 1
  • 1 University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
  • 2 Giresun University, Giresun, Giresun, Türkiye

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sediment pollution from potentially hazardous elements (PHE) generated by human activity has grown into a worldwide problem. In this regard, for the first time, surface sediment samples were obtained from six points along the Shahid Rajaee Reservoir for this investigation. Elements concentrations (Cu, Cr, Co, Mn, Fe, Pb, Ni, and Zn) were assessed using ICP-MS. Based on the individual indices (geoaccumulation index, contamination factor), all elements at all sample sites were found to be low in contamination, except Pb and Zn (at sites 1 and 2). The combined effect of PHEs in the sediment samples did not show a considerable concern, according to the synergistic indices. The health risk assessment revealed that recreational receptors were unlikely to face non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic hazards as a consequence of exposure to PHEs in sediments with unintentional ingesting and contact with the skin. The Tessier technique demonstrated that all PHEs were mostly connected with the oxidizable fraction. According to statistical study, while Cu, Co, Cr, Ni, Fe, and Mn were obtained from lithogenic sources, Pb and Zn came from natural as well as human-made sources.

    Keywords: sediment pollution indices, Sediment Quality Guidelines, Risk Assessment, Ecological risk, Potentially hazardous elements

    Received: 09 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kachoueiyan, Alipour Atmianlu, Rajabi, Ustaoğlu and Karbassi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Fatemeh Kachoueiyan, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

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