Environmental and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in sediments of Nador lagoon, Morocco

Abstract Heavy metal assessment in Nador lagoon (Mediterranean coast) was carried out using different environmental indices. In addition, heavy metal concentrations were measured in sediment samples and compared with consensus-based sediment quality guidelines. The spatial distributions of the main contamination sources of heavy metals were identified and described using chemometric and geographic information system methods. The results show that heavy metals occur in lagoon sediments largely due to the anthropogenic activities in the area (urban effluents). The concentrations of heavy metals found in surface sediments are significantly higher than those from the local background. The potential ecological risk index and other environmental indices produced similar values for the levels of heavy metal pollution in Nador lagoon sediment, thereby confirming each other’s results. Pollution indices and statistical analysis show that the heavy metals pose an ecological risk and indicate that Nador lagoon is moderately to considerably pollute.

[1]  C. Green-Ruiz,et al.  Heavy metal anomalies in lagoon sediments related to intensive agriculture in Altata-Ensenada del Pabellón coastal system (SE Gulf of California). , 2001, Environment international.

[2]  T. Neumann,et al.  Distribution of selected heavy metals and rare earth elements in surficial sediments from the polish sector of the Vistula Lagoon , 1999 .

[3]  R. Swartz.  Consensus sediment quality guidelines for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures , 1999 .

[4]  M. Maanan,et al.  Fifty-year sedimentary record of heavy metal pollution in the lagoon of Oualidia (Moroccan Atlantic coast) , 2007 .

[5]  M. Robin,et al.  Sedimentary records of anthropogenic contribution to heavy metal content in Oum Er Bia estuary (Morocco) , 2009 .

[6]  J. Webster,et al.  The application of the equilibrium partitioning pproach for establishing sediment quality criteria at two UK sea disposal and outfall sites , 1994 .

[7]  L. Manfra,et al.  Sediment Concentrations of Trace Metals in the Berre Lagoon (France): An Assessment of Contamination , 2008, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[8]  D. Macdonald,et al.  Development and Evaluation of Consensus-Based Sediment Quality Guidelines for Freshwater Ecosystems , 2000, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[9]  L. Håkanson.  Metal Monitoring in Coastal Environments , 1988 .

[10]  J. G. Wilson,et al.  Problems in the assessment of heavy-metal levels in estuaries and the formation of a pollution index , 1980, Helgoländer Meeresuntersuchungen.

[11]  M. Maanan.  Heavy metal concentrations in marine molluscs from the Moroccan coastal region. , 2008, Environmental pollution.

[12]  V Dauvalter,et al.  Heavy metal pollution in sediments of the Pasvik River drainage. , 2001, Chemosphere.

[13]  M. Maanan.  Biomonitoring of heavy metals using Mytilus galloprovincialis in Safi coastal waters, Morocco , 2007, Environmental toxicology.

[14]  L. Håkanson.  An ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control.a sedimentological approach , 1980 .

[15]  M. Robin,et al.  Heavy metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Ebrié lagoon sediments, Côte d’Ivoire , 2009, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[16]  M. Olías,et al.  The present environmental scenario of the Nador Lagoon (Morocco). , 2006, Environmental research.

[17]  C. J. Rodríguez-Sierra,et al.  Trace metals in sediments of two estuarine lagoons from Puerto Rico. , 2006, Environmental pollution.

[18]  M. Maanan,et al.  A long-term record of land use change impacts on sediments in Oualidia lagoon, Morocco , 2014 .

[19]  Source Contributions to Heavy Metal Fluxes into the Loukous Estuary (Moroccan Atlantic Coast) , 2012 .

[20]  D. Macdonald,et al.  A Preliminary Evaluation of Sediment Quality Assessment Values for Freshwater Ecosystems , 1996 .

[21]  R. O'Neill,et al.  The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital , 1997, Nature.

[22]  L. G. Morgan,et al.  The Potential for Biological Effects of Sediments-Sorbed Contaminants Tested in the National Status and Trends Program , 1990 .

[23]  G. Abrahim,et al.  Assessment of heavy metal enrichment factors and the degree of contamination in marine sediments from Tamaki Estuary, Auckland, New Zealand , 2007, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[24]  M. Robin,et al.  Metal fluxes to the sediments of the Moulay Bousselham lagoon, Morocco , 2010 .

[25]  D. Loring,et al.  Manual for the geochemical analyses of marine sediments and suspended particulate matter , 1992 .

[26]  M. Maanan,et al.  Evaluation of the anthropogenic influx of metal and metalloid contaminants into the Moulay Bousselham lagoon, Morocco, using chemometric methods coupled to geographical information systems , 2013, Environmental Science and Pollution Research.

[27]  D. Manojlović,et al.  Assessment of heavy metal pollutants accumulation in the Tisza river sediments. , 2009, Journal of environmental management.

[28]  R. Pielke.  Land Use and Climate Change , 2005, Science.